Mittwoch, 24. Februar 2016

WIPocalypse February

Well, it looks like it's already time for another WIPocalypse. I don't have much stitching to show since I am still working on the Middle Earth RR (1500 stitches to go!).

First up is a very tiny update on Danielle, I stitched half of page 2 before putting it away to work on Middle Earth.
So here is Danielle as of last time:
And now:
More of her gorgeous hair! I truly love working on her and can't wait until I get back to her!

Since I had the desire to stitch something else than Middle Earth I picked up QS Paddys Luck by Joanna Bromley for a few stitches (850 to be precise). I didn't track when I was working on it (I think it was 3 days?) so there are no stats for that one ;-) Paddy always on my QSnap so I hope it will get a few more stitches from time to time.
Here is Paddys as you last saw him:
And now:
I love to stitch this. A lot of block stitching, but the colors are just amazing. Unfortunately you can't see all the lovely sparkles, it's really beautiful and always cheers me up =) I also noticed that I am missing a few color for Paddy, lol. I started him 9 months ago and never bothered to check my supplies. But I ordered the missing colors and hope they will arrive before I get in trouble ;-)

As for this months question: I can't really answer it since I don't have any finished pieces in display in my home. People usually notice what's currently on my frame and they are always like "wow, this looks like a painting" and then the usual questions like "when will you finish" and "isn't this frustrating?" follow :D (no, none of my friends stitch...)

Anyway, I hope to have more to share next month =)
Until then,
Happy Stitching!

Dienstag, 16. Februar 2016

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - February =)

So, I am just one day late for the GG SAL :D I'm getting better at this :D But I have a ton of updates to share with you.

The fist one I want to share is a Round Robin I am participating in. A lady (Chelle) on Facebook started the Map of Middle Earth, but she didn't get along well with the confetti in it. She wants to give the map to her son and his girlfriend (once it's done), so she called for suggestions and somehow this ended up with being a round robin. So the Map of Middle Earth is traveling around our earth so we can stitch the project that Chelle wanted to stitch for her son in her place =) I think this is a lovely thing and I am so happy that I am part of the fellowship =) I plan on finishing the third page before sending it on. During the last two weeks I barely stitched on anything else, lol.

Here is my starting point, page 3 was started by Saskia from the Netherlands, who sent this to me:
There were a ton of stitches on the right hand of the upper row done as well, but I somehow just took a picture of the part I am working on.
So here is where I am so far, 5 rows and a bit done (nearly 4000 stitches):
I must confess that I am nearly sick of it, lol. But I will finish that page. I took out another project (Paddys luck) because I simply had to work on something else for a few hours. Lucky me, this page doesn't have to much confetti (compared to for example page 4, haha..... Esme will enjoy it...), so it stitches up fairly quickly. I plan on sending this on this month and due to my current progress, this is possible.
What is really funny, is the comparison to my own Map of Middle Earth which some of you may have seen last year (also for the GG SAL and it will return once I can stand stitching another map, lol). For example, my map uses TONS of 3771 (I think I have some 30ish skeins?) and this version uses none at all! The colors are completely different, Chelles map look more brownish and well, like a map drawn on really old paper, but my map looks more orange. The mane colors on Chelles map seem to be 402 and 436, my map doesn't have a lot of 436, but uses 3771.
And then I remember when the supersized version of the map came out, that were totally different colors again.... (I think in the end there were a light version and a darker version...) So many different versions of the same chart, I found that quite confusing :D

Anyway, what I also noticed is that I made the right choice by starting the XL version of the chart. I had the "normal" version at first and got RAKed with the XL version when it came out. I remember that Michele made a bigger version because not all the writings were clear and good to read. My map may have thrice as many stitches (normal: 151 650, my XL version: 421 500) but I hope the writing will be clearer. But we will see, I should reach some of the lettering soon!
When I am done with the map, I will sent it on to Esme in the UK and I will post another picture then =)

I have another project I am stitching for someone else. Chelles project started a discussion about stitching a piece together and then selling it for charity. One of the projects was "Dog bookshelf" by Randal Spangler. I signed up for it I am stitching a puppy, yay! The idea was that everyone should stitch one book and I got the book on the right, Barkleberry Finn.
I started this last year and hope to put more work into this soon. I hope to speed up once the map is sent on. Here is where I am:
Most of the puppy is done (just a few stitches in the ears are missing). Isn't he cute? =)

And then there is one more project I have worked on. It's my Candy Cane Santa I am stitching for my boyfriend. It's on hold since the map arrived, so he still has no face. But he looks like he has some kind of asian smilie  face :D
He is a lot of fun to stitch and I will definitely concentrate on his face next!

If you want to see more updates for the SAL, head over to Jos place and take a look at the link up =)

Happy stitching =)

Sonntag, 7. Februar 2016

Danielle and Paris Market

Here is a small update on Danielle, not much since my frame is now occupied with something else (which you will see for the GG SAL in a few days). But I did some 2000 stitches on Danielle. Unfortunately I managed to hurt my back, so there was not much stitching on my frame during the last days. But it's better now.

Here is where I am now:
I really love working on this, the yellow colors are so beautiful =) I never enjoyed stitching the background so much ;-)

Here are my stats so far:

Total stitches: 255 150
Total stitches done: 7200
Stitches in 2016: 2000
Stitching days: 6
Average stitches per day: 333
Stitches left: 247 950
Days left to stitch: 745

My stitches per session seem to be less than on Wolf Variant. I am not sure if this has something to do with the fabric count, I sometimes feel like I am slower on 28ct, but I feel like the coverage is better.

But Danielle is going away for a while now. Since so many people are in a finishing rush I feel the need to put some work into Kreimhild, so that maybe one day I will have a finish, too :D I guess I will return to her for a page or so when my GG SAL project travels on ;-)

I have also been a good girl and took out one of my Dimensions UFOs. I don't really know how much I worked on Paris Market but I put in a couple of threads and at least it felt like some progress. Here are my before and after pictures:


There is a lot of tree there so I am stitching on that from time to time while I stitch the house on the left. It's actually nice to stitch something in hand and I still love the design. The Dimensions projects are so different from my Haeds, it's a nice change. I will try and pick this up a few times during the month. 

Apart from this I have started one of my Mill Hill Santas, but he doesn't look like much so far. I will share a picture when there is something to show. 

I am off to bed now, I am still taking pain killers and they sort of knock me out. 
Happy stitching =)