Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - June

Somehow we flew to the middle of June and it's time for another  GGSAL update. I did some work on Wolf Kiss by Dimensions and went from here:

To here:

 While I work on this, I don't feel like I am making a lot of progress, but then I look at the before and after pictures and it looks like I did get something done after all. Also I love how the fur is turning out =)

For more updates, head over to this months link-up page here =)

Happy stitching =)

GGSAL - Final update for 2019

Oh my, it's already the 23rd! First I didn't have time to make a post and then I completely forgot about it and now it's the evening of the 23rd! Good news is that all preparations for Christmas are done, I finished my Christmas baking and wrapped the last presents. Honestly, I am not really in the mood for Christmas, I mostly feel stressed out and just want to relax for a few days.
But now I got my butt up to do this finals update on the GG SAL for this year. You can find this months link-up here.

I only worked on one project for December - again. And again it's my Map of Middle Earth, but I managed to do another 2 000 stitches, so I reached my goal to do 12 000 stitches on it this year.
At the beginning of the year, my map looked like this:

And now:

So all the writing in the first row is now done and it's only 8 000 stitches to finish the first row. I plan to focus on this piece during the first months of 2020 with the goal to finish this row soon.

Since this is the last update for 2019, I want to do a short recap on what I did during the year. Apart from Middle Earth I also worked on my Dimensions project called "Wolf Kiss" and went from here

To here:

And I am pretty happy with that progress. I really should work on this more often (I say that every time), after all it stitches up in no time. There really isn't much left to finish the first page (the pattern only has 2), so I hope that I will work on this more often in 2020.

I did a bit of work on In the Moonlight. We had a bit of a bad start because I had to restart this and that didn't help with my motivation. But I got the piece out once and now I stitched up to the point where I was before I had to restart it. I went from here:

To here:

It's not much, but I hope that stitching up to my previous progress will help me working on this more often in 2020.
I did not work on Candy Cane Santa at all, he somehow slipped by. I hope to change that in the next year.

Considering the fact that I was very ill for the better part of the year, I am still happy with my progress and since my health is improving every day, I am confident that I will get much more done in 2020 =)

Since it's nearly the 24th, I am taking the chance to wish everyone a happy holiday, to those who celebrate it a merry Christmas and I hope you all enjoy a lovely time with your family =)

WIPocalypse August & GG SAL September &Wedding update

Ah well, time flies by! I was so busy before my marriage (the party was on 6th September) that I hardly got any stitching done and I didn't find the time to make a blog post about WIPocalypse and then the time for the GGSAL was already drawing near and since I don't have to much to show for any of these, I decided to combine them into one post.

Our wedding was great, we had a lovely ceremony with my family and friends, but the whole week was very exhausted. It all began on 30th August, when our neighbors suddenly turned up on our doorstep with a giant wreath and food and beer and they decorated our door and we had a small celebration (they call it "Kränzen") and here is how lovely our door looked afterwards:

So on that night we sat outside drinking and talking until midnight and the next day on the 31st, we had our Polterabend, where all our friend from university and work and so on turned up. We had a lovely BBQ party and there is a tradition where your visitors smash porcelain (for good luck, you are not allowed to throw glas because that is supposed to bring bad luck) and the bride pair needs to clean it up (to show that they face things together) and then your lovely visitors just spill the mess again and we have to clean again (because life isn't fair ;-) ). Well, this was actually a lot of fun. We had a bit of a rain storm that night, where we all running to bring in the music box and the food and we all got pretty soaked, but it only lasted a few minutes and the party continues until like 4 in the morning (well, I went to bed around 2:30 but my husband kept going). I guess I don't need to say that we were pretty done on Sunday... And Monday...
And then we were already back into preparations and the 6th was already upon us. The day was great, we had some lovely weather, the ceremony was amazing, good food and all our friends around. I wore a huge white wedding dress and if any of you ever plan to get married in a huge and heavy dress, remember to bring a second dress because the dress got really heavy over the day and after the wedding dance I changed into something more comfortable. The dance went good, we settled for "Once upon a December" (he proposed in  December, so that actually fit) and later that night, when I had already changed, we did a second waltz to "Blood Brothers" by Iron Maiden, which was amazing!
Even thought this was all beautiful, I was pretty happy when it was all over and I just slept for like 2 days ;-) Last Friday on the 13th, our neighbors turned up again and took down the wreath (it's called "Abkränzen") and that's basically an excuse to try and drink up all the leftover, so we had another exhausting night :D And we still have a lot of beer left :D

Well, now let's focus on stitching. My WIPocalypse update is really short, I only did two columns on Kreimhilds Revenge and went from here:

To here:

I really hope to do better for next month, the current page is nearly finished, so at least that should be possible for October.

As for the GG SAL, there is not update on Middle Earth for this month! I worked on it so much during the last month that I decided to give it a months rest and pick up something else. I actually even worked on two projects and the second it still on my frame and will therefore make another appearance next month.
First I worked on Wolf Kiss by Dimensions, it was only like 3 days, but I went from here:

To here:

After that I decided to dip up In the Moonlight by Tilton Crafts again, it has been ages since I worked on it. Last time:

And now, only 300 stitches added so far, but it's a start:

So this is all I have for this month. As always, there are link ups for both monthly SALs. You can find last months WIPocalypse entry here and the GG SAL here.

Happy stitching =)

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - June

And it's time for another GG SAL update! I fear I missed making an entry for May, I didn't have anything to show anyway. That was the first month in ages where I missed making an entry, but I was just so occupied with my health situation (which is improving - I went to see my doctor on Tuesday and we decided to try and reduce my medication again) and then the month was already over. But I am back on track now =)

I only have a small update for this month and it's not Middle Earth! I just didn't feel like working on that, when I work on something on a longer basis I sometimes just need a break for a month or two. So I decided to take out Wolf Kiss by Dimensions! It has been ages since I worked on this and it was a lot of fun. This one stitches up really fast - on the one hand it has only a few colors (I'm so happy that I don't need to stitch all that back...) and on the other hand this is done on 14ct so stitches look like a lot more progress. 

Here are my Wolves like you last saw them:

And here is where I got to:

The second wolf has a (nearly) complete face now! As always I am totally impressed on how much depth you can get with just a few colors and full crosses! I didn't even work on this for to long and once again I am thinking that I really should work on this more often... To many projects, to little time...

As every month there this a link-up at Jos place and since I am late (as always) a good deal of people already signed up - so there is plenty to see ;-) 

Happy stitching =)

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - December

I can't believe we already made it to December, so this means that this is my final update for 2018! Therefore I am going to recapture all the progress I made this year ;-) And being only two days late is an improvement for me, but nevertheless there is already plenty to see at this months link-up page ;-)

For this month I only worked on one project, stitching is getting better again since my medication is working quite well now, but the time before Christmas is always so busy. I have all my present ready by now (well - I still need to do some baking for my uncle, but that's scheduled for the next weekend), I just need to wrap them up. I also spent a lot of time making tags for the presents, unfortunately it's not so easy to take pictures of them (and with 16 tags made I didn't feel like taking individual pictures):

These are my first attempts to card making - it's really fun, I am not completely happy with some of them, but I am still learning, right? And since these are going away with presents, I decided that they belong to the GG SAL. 

The general idea is that I want to gain some practice at card making. You know, I am going to marry next year and we didn't find invitation designs that were to our liking AND for a reasonable price (some cards are really expensive and since we are going to need like 50 invitations, the price really adds up). I will keep you up to date with my "experiments" ;-)

But back to stitching! I worked on my Map of Middle Earth by Heaven and Earth Designs. Since this is the last update for this year, here is my starting point for 2018, back then I was at 43.000 stitches:

Since last month I added another 800 stitches - so here we are at 55.000 stitches:

So I managed to get 12.000 stitches this year - my original goal was to get at least 14.000 stitches in, but considering the nasty business with my hand, I am completely happy with my 12.000 stitches. I am not sure if I can get the row finished by next year - it's 20.000 stitches after all! But I will do my best and try to get as close to that as possible.

So far I didn't get any more progress into Candy Cane Santa by Dimensions Gold, I thought about not posting until I had something to show, but I didn't want to be to late with this post (well last year I posted on the 23rd...). Anyway, I was still able to make some progress in 2018. I went from here:

To here (at least I took a new full shot)

The biggest change surely is that Santa does now have eyes - I am not sure if he really looks less creepy now - lol.

Another project I took with me from 2017 into the new year is Wolf Kiss by Dimensions. I went from here:

To here:

I only picked this up twice during this year - the progress is really fine for that amount, but I should definitely pick this up more often! It's a nice design, not to many colors and it stitches up in no time.

Last but not least, I restarted my In the Moonlight by Tilton Crafts - you may remember that I managed to mess up the orientation of the fabric. I only stitched two columns, but it's a (new) start:

The background is as dull as the first time, I think I just need to get past the point of my previous progress and then the motivation to work on this will hopefully kick in.

Those are all the things I worked on, I am generally happy with what I achieved this year (there is always room for improvements). The GG SAL will continue in 2019 and I am in for that! Hopefully with more progress on Santa! 

For all those who only drop by for the GG SAL: I hope you have a wonderful and festive time and I am wishing you all the best for 2019 =)

Happy stitching!

Gifted Gorgousness SAL - August

Well, I am not sure if I have ever been this late for the SAL. The simple reason for this is that I don't really have a lot to show, so I thought about skipping this month, but over the last couple of years I posted for this SAL every month and it just didn't feel right to skip this month and after all, there is one project on which I worked. And it's not Santa or Middle Earth!
I did my best to work on Middle Earth, I was on the frame for 4 days or so, but whenever I sat down to work on it, I found myself doing everything but stitching, even staring at the television like a dummy (I usually watch TV or listed to audiobooks when I stitch). I just didn't feel it. In those days I did like 30 or 40 stitches on Middle Earth, some of the days I couldn't even bring myself to work on it at all. Well, I checked back, since last June I have been working on ME every month and I think I was just so sick of it... My stitchy bug is a bit weird these days anyway and I don't want to loose it completely, so I put Middle Earth away for this month.

After that episode, I decided to pick up another of my GG SAL projects - Wolf Kiss by Dimensions. I haven't worked on this for ages and it doesn't have so many colors, so I thought is would be a good and easy project to get over Middle Earth. I worked on this for two evenings and went from here:

To here:

I actually am fairly happy with  what I did in those two evenings. You know the pattern consists of two pages and this month I managed to finish the upper half of the first page (this is why the male wolfs face looks so funny, I wanted to finish the upper half so I don't have to flip over the pattern all the time). It also helped me to get my stitchy bug back again ;-)

Well, this is all I have for this month. Lucky me, the link up is still open and you can find it here.

Happy stitching =)

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - February

Ah, it looks like we are already half way through February... I am 3 days late for GG SAL and don't have much to show, so everything is as usual here :D 

Work is still driving me made, I survived that exam we had in January (we were occupied with than until last Tuesday, since after the normal written test, some of the students (like 40) can do an additional oral exam and the whole process of correcting the exam, the students sign up for the oral exam and the oral exams themselves always takes ages...) and I am prepared for the next exam, which is next Tuesday (and those students also can do the oral exam stuff) and I finished designing the exams for my own students (the last two exams belonged to lectures from the last summer), which is at the beginning of March. Holy cow, sometimes I really hate how many students and how many exams there are! On top of this, I think that I am getting ill, I feel really done these days and by head hurts a lot, so I spent a lot of time sleeping and hoping that the flue won't visit me...

Anyway, back to topic! It's GG SAL! As always, it's worth taking a look at the monthly link-up here, 14 other people have already signed up, so there is plenty to see and - as always - Jo also has a lot of beautiful projects to show =)

Well, the first thing I have to show is a small update on my Wolf Kiss by Dimensions. I picked this up after my latest GG SAL update, I didn't work to much on it, but every stitch counts, right?

I went from here:

To here:

I think if I spent another day stitching this, I could finish the top half of the first page. Maybe I'll try this for next time. I originally wanted to start the owl from Eva Rosenstand, but the fabric is to stiff (can't get it on the frame and it's supposed to be linen), so I will wash it first. For this I need to surge the edges and for 4 weeks I have been planning to take out my sewing machine and do that (and maybe sew the last scroll rod cover I need). 

The second project I have to show is my map of Middle Earth. It is currently on the frame, I only did 500 stitches since you last saw it, but I am going to stitch those additional 500 stitches for my 1000-a-month-goal before I take it of the frame. I guess I should be able to finish the column tomorrow.

I went from here:

To here:

Taking full shots is starting to get difficult since the map is quite large and you can hardly see the column I started. Maybe I will only do full shots for page finishes from now on (doesn't happen that often..).

I must confess that there is still now further work on Santa. I am currently focusing on a smaller Mill Hill kit I want to finish, so whenever I sit down for a few minutes and stitch on a smaller project, it*s that one instead of Santa. But I will try again for next month!

That's already all I have for this month. 

Happy stitching =)

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - January

The GG SAL also continues in 2018 and once again I will do my best to post every month =) This SAL is (still) hosted by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching (fun fact: Serendipitous is a word I always have to look up, I just can't remember how to spell it). I will put up the link to the link-up here ever month, so you can join the ride or look at the other stitchers progress. Since I am usually quite late for the SAL, there is plenty to see there when I post about it. For example, if you follow this months link-up, you can already find a bunch of entries ;-)

Anyway, for those who don't know about this SAL: Its about sharing your work on projects that were a gift to you (the pattern was a gift, the fabric was a gift, you use gifted threads or so, the whole kit was a gift and so on) or that are meant to be a gift for someone.

My first project I share here is my Map of Middle Earth, the pattern was gifted to me several years ago. I fear I don't remember by whom, but it was part of those Haed Appreciation events on Facebook several years ago. Since I love Lord of the Rings, this was a perfect gift for me and I am working on this since August 2014 now (didn't know it was so long...).

Here is what the design is going to look like:

And here is my starting point for 2018, 43.000 stitches in:

And here is my current progress, 44.000 stitches:

The plan is to add at least 1.000 stitches per month, it doesn't sound like much, but I think it will add up. I did 11.000 stitches last year, so this should be an improvement and to me it sound much more doable to go for 1.000 stitches every month than to go for 2.000 every other month ^^

Then I am also stitching a Christmas stocking for my fiance , which didn't get any love since last month (mostly due to a pair of socks I had to knit for Christmas, which I finished late on the 23rd and gave away early on the 24th - I wrapped it up that morning and didn't get a chance to take a picture - and after that I had just so many other projects). But I hope to share something for next month.

Here is what it should look like - Candy Cane Santa Stocking by Dimensions Gold:

And here is where I currently am:

For those who don't know: My fiance is actually called Alexander, so the picture of the stocking if very accurate ;-) The next goal is to fill in that window section and then move to the section with the rest of the tree =) 

The next project I want to share for this SAL is another gift for my fiance, since he really loves wolves (me too). It's another Dimensions design called "Wolf Kiss":

And here is my starting point for this one:

The pattern has two pages and the line you see indicates how far the first page goes (just did a few stitches on the second page when I had a bit of thread left over). I would be super happy if I could finish that first page this year =).

Which brings us to the new starts for this year.

First is not a real new start, it's a restart. Stupid me managed to start in the wrong direction and so the fabric was to short. I didn't have a heart to restart last year, but I will do so this year! Another wolf design called "In the Moonlight" by Tilton Crafts:

The fabric is already cut and surged, I just need to reprint the first page. I did 3500 stitches last year before I noticed my mistake, so the goal is to catch up to those 3500 and add a few more to it.

The second one is a kit I got for my birthday in 2015 (gift from my fiance). I always said "ok I will stitch this once I am done with wolf kiss" but by now I still not done with wolf kiss and I feel sort of guilty for not starting this, since this is such a beautiful design.

It is a kit by Eva Rosenstand, I am not sure it has a name. I think the kits only have numbers and no names, which is weird (I have a couple of her designs). The thing with Eva Rosenstand is, that the pictures on her kits really don't so the design justice. You look at the picture and you go like "nah, it's okay" and then you look at the price (they are fairly expensive, her kits are easily above 60 Euro (a Dimensions Gold of equal size but in full coverage is mostly about 45 Euro)) and you go like "ok, for this amount of money, I expect something better". I came to really stitch one of her designs by chance, I was looking for a gift and found a small kit featuring a robin, it was on sale and not expensive. you may remember it:

And here is what it looked like when I did it:

I am no expert when it comes to taking pictures, it still look way better in real life, it's really really pretty, the threads the fabric are of high quality, you can feel it and you can see it (in real life), but my crappy picture still looks better than the one on the kit... I think it's a shame...  

Anyway, where I am heading is that I am really looking forward to stitching the owl, my robin sort of prepared me, that it will look amazing. I am sort of excited about the outcome for this one ;-) 

The list might grow - actually, it's my birthday today (another fun fact) and I got a voucher for stitchy stuff from my fiance and my mil (I already call her that, I don't always want to add the "to be") and we will make a trip to a craft shop soon =) so there would be more things to qualify for this SAL!

Big question is: I plan on stitching a ring cushion for our wedding, would this qualify as a gift? I mean it's a cushion for my fiance and me, so it's half a gift :D 

Well, those are my plans for 2018 so far, I am looking forward to a wonderful stitchy year and hope the same for all of you =)

Happy stitching =)

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - September

Same procedure as every month - it's GGSAL time and I am two days late for it :D I planned to post this update on Saturday, so I would only have been one day late, but I was just so busy yesterday. You know summer is nearly over and all my lovely flowers in the garden are looking a bit dull by now, so I decided to pick up some autumn flowers and so I spent a lot of time in the garden yesterday.
Anyway, a late update is still better than no update and I actually do have a bit to show this month! This wonderful SAL is hosted by Jo and you can find the link-up here.

As for my progress, the first thing I have to share is bad news. I wanted to pick up In the Moonlight and work on it for a few days, but I noticed, that I made a mistake - the fabric orientation is wrong... I can't believe that I didn't notice this when I started! Now the fabric is actually to short =/ I am happy that I am "just" 3500 stitches in, but it still put me down. I already cut a new piece of fabric because I definitely want to restart this. But I just couldn't push myself to do this right now.

Sine I was super determined to stitch one of my Wolf designs and In the Moonlight was out, I decided to take out my Wolf Kiss and I made some nice progress on this - the needle just flew through this =)
I went from here:

To here:

The second wolf now has an eye and I also decided to add the back stitching to both eyes and I think it looks lovely =)

The second project I want to share is my Map of Middle Earth. I was aiming for a page finish, but there are still 800 stitches left on page 5, But I will definitely have them done by next month. I am at 38 000 stitches now - so I am past the halfway point on my first row of pages!
I went from here:

To here:

I added 6 000 stitches this year and I really hope to add a few more (at least 4 000).

The last one I have to show - as every month - is Candy Cane Santa.
I went from here:

To here:

Santa is getting a hand! Yay! But actually, it makes Santa look even more creepy... :D Perhaps it will get better once he has that candy cane :D

Ok that's it for this month, I am off to stitch now =)