WIPocalypse August (and July...)

 Ah it has been a while, I was in absolutely no mood to blog in July, so this is my update for July and August and I am even late for August. I am still buried in work, but I decided to get my butt up and write a bit here. Despite all my work I got a lot of stitching done. A good deal has been done in the second half of July, where I had two weeks off from work (and I really needed them). Since the beginning of July I am using Pattern keeper and I am really happy with it. I tried a different PDF reader some years ago and was very unhappy, so I continued to use paper charts. But int he beginning of July I finally decided to dig out my extra-old tablet and give Pattern Keeper a try. After I reset my tablet (it kept crushing when I tried to access my dropbox where I stash my digital patterns), things went rather well and in August I did not only purchase the full version of Pattern Keeper, but also a new tablet (one that has a battery that lasts longer then 3 hours and doesn't take 6 to reload...) and now I am only using the app. So far I imported patterns from Haed, Tilton and Goldenkite and it seems to work well. Unfortunately my Gecko Rouge patterns are all printed charts, so I need to look into that and see if I can get digital copies (at least for the charts that are still available) - especially since Gecko Rouge doesn't have overlapping pages and it's quite annoying to switch between pages.... Anyway, enough rambling, prepare for pictures!

The first thing I want to show is my now framed Cliffside Beacon from the Dimensions Gold petites collection. I am really not that good at framing, but it could be worse:

In July I did another one-per-day challenge, I did not manage to work on my Sloth (Gecko Rouge) every day, but I still got a lot done. I went from here:

To here

And I am at 7 743 out of 23 986 stitches now, so nearly 1/3 done now and added 4 350 stitches!

In early July I picked up Garden Gate by Dona Gelsinger (I had my nails done in lavender [dmc 26 to be precise] then and the color just reminded me of the hydrangeas in this piece...) and I stitched two columns on it. I went from here:

To here:

The second project I worked on Das Rheingold by Kinuko Craft - a project that I started some ages ago and did not work on for ages. But I love the design and hope it won't take another 3 years for me to pick it up again. I went form here:

To here:

I got 4 842 stitches done in July and I am more then happy with that =) I hope to get the first row done soon and that my mojo to work in this is back for good =)

Next I did some work on my Wolf Variant by Bente Schlick. I didn't work on it for a long while, I don't know why because it stitches up in no time and I love the purple colors. I went from here:

To here:

As you can see, a lot has changed. When I started this, I didn't zig-zag my edges (to avoid gridlines) and it has bothered me for a while now with this project. In the beginning I wanted to stitch 100 stitches across and then down (jut for a little change) and then I didn't want to start zig-zaging in the middle of the column, because I am weird. But not I just decided to add another column and now I have a proper zig-zag edge there. On top of that, I also filled in the gap and now I have a nice 110x250  stitches block done. That's quite a bit, but the design is huge and so there is still no sign of the wolf. The whole design has 409 500 stitches, so the 5 800 (!!) stitches didn't really move the percentage on Pattern Keeper ;-) but I thing the progress is more then visible.

After that I decided to work on Kriemhild again, I went from here:

To here:

I am now a bit more then halfway through page 42 and I plan to finish that page in September (and make a start on page 43). I did less then 10 000 stitches on her this year and want to focus on her a bit more. By the way, I did not only encounter the first flowers (very pretty), but I also found her helmet. I have been stitching on it for a while, but it was only in the full shot that I could recognize it (the typical haed-effect). 

Now this brings me to my current WIP, Supersized Ride of the Yokai by Ruth Thompson. Once again I must say how much I love Pattern Keeper, it just makes my stitching more organized and there are less ninja stitches now. Since I am working on 32ct here, organized stitching and starting/ending threads is important to me here. I went from here:

To here:

Since I no longer need to stick to my pages, I decided to stitch 50 stitches high and the current block is 333, so exactly 1/3, across. I already did a good deal on the next row and plan to finish this block before I switch to something else.

This brings me to future plans! I have 5 more Haeds on which I last worked in 2019, so I am on a good way there. Among those are Yule Angel and Noble Spirit, which are typical winter motifs for me, so I guess I will work on them in November/ December. QS Trapped and Whispers are a bit gloomy, so they really fit in autumn and then there is Starlight, which also fits the gloomy time of the year. Then I have 6 more other projects, which did not get any love this year (one is my Christmas Eve, she will come out for Christmas as usual and one was only used to show a friend how to stitch, so it's not really started). After all, I am very confident that I can get some love into all my projects this year. In September I definitely plan to pick up QS Trapped, I might  do some sort of one-per-day challenge on it (maybe not for a whole month, but 2 or 3 weeks also add up). I plan to do a bit of work on Kriemhild and then I will see what I pick up next.

I also have a new start coming! I decided to join the Pandemic by Longdog samplers stitchers! You maybe know that the pattern was available for free at the end of June, I then ordered some fabric (40ct Newcastle Linen by Zweigart in creme) and a couple of threads for teststitching. I decided to try the threads from a German company called Vaupel&Heilenbeck, they have hand dyed cotton and silk. Since the thread is expensive, I wanted to be sure with my choice.

The colors are really hard to catch, in real live they are really vivid. The smaller skeins are silk and the two bigger skeins are cotton.

In the first row you can see the two cotton colors, the others are silk. I am stitching over 2, so it is like 20ct. The cotton thread is a bit thicker and has a slightly better coverage. I was really torn between the red cotton (no 1, row 1) and the re silk (no 2, row 2). The cotton was a bit fresher, the colors reminded me of berries and it has a bit more variation, so in the end I went for that (I did a bit more test stitching with smaller designs from the pattern, but I did not take a picture of that). Testing the threads already was a lot of fun, so I guess this won't be my last time working with these threads. The silk was a bit easier to work with , it's very smooth and shiny. But the red silk varies a bit into brown (very good for autumn) and I decided that a pandemic a tragic enough, so I wanted to stitch the design with happier colors =) The whole process of ordering the threads took ages, but today I got an email that the rest of my threads finally shipped and they will arrive soon =)

Last but not least, if you want to see more updated for August, just take a look at this months (ah well last months) link-up page, where you can find all other entries and information regarding the SAL.

Happy stitching =)

WIPocalypse July

Guess what? I am in time for WIPocalypse, yay me! I can't believe it! If you want to see what everybody else has to show for July, take a look over at Measis place =)

I am really happy with this months progress. I managed to get through with my rotation (finally, it only took two months longer than expected!) and I got another page done on Kriemhild!

The first project I have to show is on Wolf Variant by Bente Schlick. It's one of the two project I was still missing in my rotation this year. So it has been a while since you saw it.
I went from here:

To here:

 I added some 2400 stitches to it, I am still working 100 stitches across and this is 200 stitches down (well started, you see the gap). I am not sure if I will continue to stitch down or move a bit more across. I guess I will decide when I pick this up again ;-)

The next one I was working on is Kreimhilds Revenge. I finished page 27, now there is something apart from sky! Yay for the rocks!
I went from here:

To here:

As you can see, we are getting closer to the actual Kriemhild, soe of her dress should appera on page 28 =) I got a bit more than 2100 stitches done on her . I have about 7000 stitches left to do until I reach the halfway point on her and I think it should not be a problem to reach that goal this year =)

The second project still missing in my rotation was QS Paddys Luck by Joanna Bromley. It has been ages since I was working on this, but it is so pretty and colorful =) Iadded two columns/ 1600 stitches and went from here:

To here:

There was an awful lot of confetti in Paddys hat, but now that it is done, it looks amazing =) Since it has not seen any love for so long, I think about finishing the rest of page 2 as well now =)

This already makes a total of 6100 stitches since my last update and this does not include 2000 stitches I did on my map of middle earth (which I am sharing for the GG SAL at the middle of the month). I really didn't notice that I stitched that much, but it makes me happy ;-)

The last project I worked on is my Mill Hill kit called Hydrangeas. I pick this up from time to time and got quite a bit done.
I went from here:

To here:

It is really nice to stitch and goes rather fast. I am doing all the cross stitch and then I'll add the beads and I think it will be amazing once the beads are in =)

I haven't answered this months question so far. It's about showing our oldest and our newest WIP.
Well, my oldest WIP is really old (I don't really know how old it is, I think from 2010?) and far from being complete. It's a Dimensions kit called Paris Market and you have seen it from time to time. It was on the edge to turning into a UFO, over the last year I picked it up more often and I would rather consider it a WIP than a UFO.
Here is what it currently looks like:

I think my newest WIP is actually the Hydrangeas above, I started them in May. But as soon as this blog post goes up, I will have a new newest WIP :D I am finally going to start my first Gecko Rouge project! I have a couple of their kits by now and I became a member of the Golf club in March, so my first gold voucher is to be done in August! And they have so many more lovely designs!

But I guess you would like to see what my newest-WIP-to-be will look like:

I think this Sloth looks amazing and I feel like working with all those wonderful colors =) So I guess I will stopp here and get my needle into this one =)

Happy stitching =)

A finish and final update for 2016

Well, this is the last day of 2016, so I want to share one last update because I made some more progress on various projects.

First up is another finsih for 2016, yes, that does happen!! I finished my first Nora Corbett called "Gwen":

Actually, the colors on that picture are quite close this time! Now that she is done I am really happy with her, the beads really did the trick and they were so much fun to do! =) I can actually see myself stitching more Noras! I even found a mermaid I like! Oh my! Unfortunately I am not so good at capturing Gwens beauty on a picture. I will try to frame her and will take another picture then =)

As for further progress, I stitched like a mad girl! I had some time off before Christmas - you know like you have to prepare for Christmas and all the people and so on and then you have to relax from Christmas and all the people and so on :D It's nice to see all the family, but also a bit exhausting, just to many people around. Anyway, I while I had some time at home I hermited and stitched. So here we go:

I did some more work on Yule Angel, I am now at 28 000 stitches:

And I worked on Wolf Variant to finish my goal for 2016 of filling in the 100x160 stitches block:

And I also worked on Starlight, finally! I only did 2 columns, but progress is still progress, right?

So, that's it for 2016!

I plan to try another rotation, at least at the beginning of the year. I want to rotate through all my projects once, so I won't feel bad for not working on something for a year. So I will dedicate about one week to every project and I will work on Kriemhild each month for 5 days to get some progress into her. Once I am done with the rotation, I will decide if I continue with it of go back to stitching whatever I want.

The first project for 2017 will be my annual new year start, so stay tuned for that!

I hope all of you spent a nice time with your family and I hope you will make a good start for 2017! =)

Happy stitching!

Page finish on Eternal Promise and update on Wolf Variant

Well, time for an update, I have quite a lot to show!

First up is my end of rotation update on Eternal Promise, my LotR Haed by Matt Stewart:
I finished page 3 and made a start on page 4, I have a total of 16 000 stitches done now:

Those trees are really lovely, but the confetti is really hard. I love the outcome, but those 4000 stitches took ages to do!

After sharing my update on this for WIPocalypse, I really had to take a small break and picked up Wolf Variant by Bente Schlick. I worked on this for 4 days and finished off page 10! I did 2100 stitches in 4 days, yay me! It was soooo much fun =)
So here I am right now:

Total Stitches: 409 500

Total Stitches done: 13 900

Stitches done in 2016: 7 100

Stitching days: 14

Average stitches per day: 507

Stitches left: 395 600

Days left to stitch: 781

We already reached December and I still have so many goals I want to meet this year. One of those is to fill in the missing stitches on that 100x160 block and I will see what I can do. I mean this is way more possible than finishing the first row on Iris, the first row on Yule Angel or something like that... I put Yule Angel on the frame for now and will work on that for a few days. Since I haven't worked on Starlight this year, I will do my best to pick that up as well. And then I also wanted to finish my sheep in the meadow and Gwen... Oh my! Where has 201 gone??

I guess I should go for some stitching ;-) 

WIPocalypse - July

So, it's the end of July already. July was a very busy and exhausting month, I had a lot of work to do at university because the semester is endig now and exams are drawing nearer and I have a lot of people asking questions and so on. Along with that, it was my boyfriends birthday last week and we decided to celebrate it with some friends yesterday. So we spent a whole week planning and preparing and I feel like we can spent another week cleaning the place :D But we had a lot of fun last night, everybody was happy and the food was great. I am still very tired, so maybe this post will be a short one ;-)
Since I started with the Haed Challenge 3 with my Map of Middle Earth, I don't have that much progress to show and the same will maybe go for next month.

First up is Danielle. Last time, very close to finishing page 2:

And now, 2 1/2 pages done:

Absolutely lovey, I love all those colors and I'ma bit sorry that you can't see the sparkles on the pictures!

Apart from that I worked on my Supersized Ride of the Yokia. Last time:

And now, I did another partial page and started to work on the 3 pages above, so stitches are now 40 stitches high and 189 across:

I want to get to some of the detail, so I started stitching the 3 pages above and will try and focus on them next. You can already see the legs of one of the ghostlike animal (?). By now, I am a great fan of the 32ct fabric, I'm looking forward to picking this up again =)

This month has two topics - one is about challenges for the olympic games and one is a half-year goal report. I'm not doing any challenges for the olympics (not really watching them a lot and since I am doing the Haed Challenge, I don't want any more and just stitch what I feel like) and I didn't really set fixed goal for 2016. So I am doing a half year progress report and compare to my thoughts from the beginning of the year (like I said "I'd like to put more work into that") and so on:

First up is Kreimhilds Revenge by H D Johnson. At the beginning of 2016 I had 20 pages done:

There is an actual goal for her - finish row 3 (or more). I did 2 additional pages, 1 full page and a partial (just some 10 or 15 columns) left to do - next time she comes to the frame that row will be done! Especially since there is only sky with way less confetti there =)

Rheingold by Kinuko Craft - didn't touch it so far, maybe I will still get my butt up to finish the page I started:

Yule Angel by Anne Stokes - didn't touch it - still 7200 stitches left to finish the first row. Gotta do that!

Starlight by David Hoffrichter - didn't touch it. It's absolutely on the list of things to go on my frame next - don't have any anticipations or plans for this one, but I really want to get some stitches into it, it's so pretty!

Eternal Promise by Matt Stewart - nope, no progress (did I stitch at all this year??) - plan is to finish the page I started - that should still be possible:

Wolf Variant by Bente Schlick - oh, I worked on it! Still 4000 stitches to go to finish the 100x160 block I started, but I stitched!
Before:

And now:

Now that I look at it, I really want to pick it up again, it stitches up so nicely =)

QS Paddys Luck by Joanna Bromley - I worked on it! I wanted to finish the first page and did that, yay me :D I even made a start on page 2 and I put it on my frame tonight (just felt like it):
Before:

And now:

Danielle by Sara Butcher, I wanted to stitch page 2 or more and I did both, I am 2 1/2 pages in (see above). But here is her at the beginning of the year:

Supersized Iris Keeper by J Wall - big plan is to stitch all of row 1 this year. I'm on a good way (I think).  Here is where we started:

And now - half way through page 3 and I crossed the halfway mark of the page - so much fun to stitch!

Supersized Ride of the Yokai by Ruth Thompson - a new start for 2016 - I worked on it quite a lot :D You can see my progress above. No real goals for that. I said that it would be great to reach the halfwaypoint of my first row, but since I decided not only to stitch the last row of pages but also the above, this is not going to happen. But I am happy with my progress so far and I think I can put in another few xs and will be happy by the end of the year =)

QS Trapped by Melanie Delon - another new start. I wanted to stitch something I bought in 2013 (you know that - by see things, you love them, you buy them and then you don't start them :D gotta do something about that!). The dark colors are giving me trouble, but it's quite pretty: 1 1/2 pages in so far:

Apart from that I picked up my Dimensions projects
Paris Market went from here:

To here:

From an UFO to a WIP :D Love it!
And I even picked up Aurora Cabin for a few crosses, from here:

To here:

I guess I still forgot about a couple of things, but this is most of my progress so far.

Happy stitching =)