July re-cap

When I was thinking about this months re-cap I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't achieved much, but now that I've pulled the pictures I realise that things have happened.

I finished the Belle dress, and more importantly it survived the day, I was so excited, and proud!

Heroes and Heroines as it started the month

And I got the page finish for the end of the month

And my crochet had returned, and more importantly I'm starting to actually work out what I'm actually doing and how to make things.

So, I've started a corner to corner scarf, which I'm rather liking the effect of in variegated wool

And I finally finished the twidle muff, woohoo!

A bit of a mish mash

 As this titles suggests, I've got lots of little bits to show this week, I've been crocheting quite a lot, partially because of circumstances, and partially because I hurt my arm and was put on a stitching ban by my chiropractor/other half.

Firstly I've finished the basic bulk of my twiddlemuff, this is the first thing I've ever crocheted, so I'm quite proud of it, especially as I only had a knitting pattern to work from. This was partially an experiment, it's not quite turned out how I was planning, but it's kinda worked. I went for a looser stitch on the top layer so you could see the other colour through it but I should have gone for a more contrasting colour on the underlayer because you can't see it that well. I've also realised that I should have crocheted in the round because you can't see my terrible join on here. I was only planning on making one, but because I can see ways of doing it better I am now debating a second one just to see if my improvements would work. I just need to bling this one up to finish it.

 Second up is my first attempt at corner to corner. I had a couple of longish train journeys ahead of me so this seemed like a nice portable project with me. I literally learnt how to C2C about two hours before we left for the train (I had to find a left handed idiots guide). I rather like how it's turning out though, loving the colours on the yarn.

Finally, as promised, I started Ex Machina by Cris Ortega. Unfortunately due to my dodgy neck/shoulder, this is all I've managed in a week and a half, which is slow, even my my standards.I woke up a week and a half ago with a trapped nerve in my neck, and have to say that I've never felt pain like it. Thankfully my other half is a chiropractor and helped me through it, but I'm just waiting for the damage to heal now, and it turns out that I'm particularly bad at that, also I was back in work after two days and it turns out that sitting at a desk for nine hours a day doesn't really help matters.

Anyway, I do love this chart, I just hope I can work on it a bit more in the up coming weeks. While writing this the floor stand that I finally gave in and ordered arrived so we've just constructed that, and I'm hoping it'll make stitching a bit easier at the moment, and also mean that I injure myself a little less regularly because I do ruin my neck and back quite regularly, I'm just lucky that other half can mend me just as regularly.!

Hey look, a week of finishes or sorts

First up, I finished the dress, woohoo, so here's a pic of us before we headed out to LFCC for the day. It was good fun, and the dress stayed intact for the entire day, which is some kind of miracle. There isn't a single photo of me on my own, so this is me with the very talented Steffi who is an amazing Elsa, amongst other things.

Also, this is interesting. The SyFy channel does a SyFy Fan Cam and it's kinda cool, even for the unphotogenic like me, just because it's fascinating to have that frozen shot from all angles. You can find Steffi and I's shot here.

I'm already planning my next costume (it may be a little bit addictive), although this time I intend for there to be a lot less sewing involved.

Secondly, I managed to finish my third page of Heroes and Heroines, which means that I have moved onto another (new) project. I love how this is stitching up but after three pages I was starting to wane, so I've moved on before I lose the love, Next up, ExMachina, but I'll be back t this very soon as I do absolutely love it!

So close...

I was aiming for a page finish this week, but as you can see that hasn't quite happened, although I am quite close, and the staircase is definitely starting to look more like a staircase, rather than just random stripes.

Also, the fact that I'm back working on this means that the dress must be finished! It is, I'm so relieved! I'll try and get a decent picture of the finished article some time this weekend and so hopefully I'll have something to show what it looked like but next week!

I miss my cross stitch, but...

... the Belle dress is nearly finished. This picture is incredibly unflattering (and may well be the first time that my face has appeared on my own blog) and bodice is inside out and held together almost entirely by pins, but, it kinda looks like a dress. I'm actually much further on than this, having spent the entire of today stabbing myself with a needle (it turns out that the fact that I cross stitch most days does not mean that I am any good with a needle, I have visible stab marks). The top is now almost complete, I've just had to order eyelets and a little tool having discovered that I don't have everything to do that with, but it's quite sad how proud of myself I am for achieving this, and it's also quite sad how much I've missed my actual stitching, but hopefully I can now get back to it.

I'm so slow!

 

I am loving working on this, but progress has been a bit slow this week, as I've been concentrating on other things, but you can kinda see the stairs taking shape.

And this is what's distracting me. You've seen some of the progress pictures on the bodice, here's my first shot of the skirt to go with it. It was laughably large at this point (ie I could fit a friend into the waistband with me - we tested, and it was dragging on the floor, I'm short but I'm not that short) but I have now elasticated the waitsband so it's all rouched and I've started taking it up so it's now ankle length, but I'll be honest, I don't have the energy to try and take a decent shot tonight, and hopefully it means that I'll have something to show next week. All my time is going on this right now because I've suddenly realised that I've only got two weeks left to finish it, so my stitching has fallen by the wayside a bit, and it turns out that I really miss my stitching. But, the sooner this is done, the sooner I can get back to it, and I wil be really proud of myself if this turns out even vaguely recognisable. And as it's all hand sewn (I really must get a sewing machine) I'll also be really proud of myself if it holds together for the entire day.

And I've already got an idea what my next costume should be, and this time I might be able to convince Ben to join in. He was debating this time, but I think I've lost :-(

June re-cap

If I say so myself, June has been a surprisingly productive month, I'm quite proud of myself.

I've started my bodice for my Comicon outfit, this is draft three, and it almost fits, so I'm getting there.

This is where Family Values by Paul Kidby, charted by Paine Free Crafts started the month

And I finished the month with a page finish, so I'll take that for a win.

Heather as she started the month

And Heather how she finished the stitching retreat. Not as much as I was intending, somehow I got distracted with all that chatting instead.

This was a new start this month, Heroes and Heroines by Aimee Stewart from HAED. That chart is 104 pages, so this is the first three pages, two partials, and I'm now working on my first full page, this is a bit of a long term project.

So I'm carrying on with Heroes and Heroines, I don't know if I'll make it to the end of the page before I move on to something else, but I decided to carry on while I was on a roll with it. Scarlet's skirt is showing at the bottom, and you can see the beginning of that on this page as well, but this page is mostly bookshelf and stairs. I haven't got as much as I've had to show the last couple of weeks but it's still progressing nicely.

Next up I'm continuing with the attempted bodice making. On the left is draft two, it horrible fabric while I work out the size, but it vaguely fits and I'm proud to have got it that far.

Below is the bit I was really scared of, starting in the proper fabric, obviously it still needs a bit of work, and I had to tuck it slightly at the arm hole, because it was gaping, but I'm starting to vaguely see what I'm actually aiming for.

IHSW

Last thing on Sunday evening and I suddenly remember that it's been IHSW (and that I've actually been involved for once) and that means that I need to post an update. I'm a little disappointed as I was hoping for a page finish, although I'm not too far off, only one page left, but not bad progress, even if I do say so myself, especially as I've been working today.

Hope everyone else who joined in had a good weekend.

I'm loving Heroes and Heroines

The title says a lot, I'm loving Heroes and Heroines, I've finished the first partial page (I record of five days) and am now enjoying the second page. I know it doesn't look like much yet, this is the bottom right corner so it's really just bookshelf. In the very top of the first page you can see the beginning of Scarlett's skirt, and if you squint at the second page you can see the continuing shape of the bottom of the skirt. Loving it!

And it's IHSW this weekend, which I haven't been able to join in with in ages because of my shifts, but I'm hoping to actually have some stitching to show for it this weekend.

Bits and Bobs

So, firstly I've manage to finish the second page of Family Values, and the page really came together at the end, especially the scythe, I really wasn't seeing that until right at the end.

Secondly, excuse the gratuitous boob shot, which, now that  type it probably isn't the thing to type on something that could be searched by google, but now the idea of someone searching that and ending up here is amusing me so it's going to stay in. Also excuse what is an incredibly unattractive photo of me. Anyway, I'm learning to sew. I'm trying to make a costume for LFCC but I've never made things in my life. I bought a pattern, got it out of the packet, stared at it for a while then put it back in the package and messaged a friend who is good at sewing, she is not teaching me to follow the pattern. This is a mock up of the top, it's the wrong fabric and too small, but it's tailored and I'm proud of that fact that, with her help, I actually managed to make something of sorts.

And finally... when I started this year I said that there wouldn't be any new starts but gave myself a couple of get out of jail free cards. These were mostly gifts for other people, but also included two designs that I knew had been sent to charters and so I was just waiting for them to be released. Typically they were both released in the same week and I'm now officially doomed. Here's my first of these starts. Heroes and Heroines, Supersized by Aimee Stewart and charted by HAED. It took me quite a lot of staring to work out what this is, it's pretty much nothing but bookshelf, there isn't really any picture in this page.

Progress of varying degrees

 So, Family Values is progressing, little stitches fill in the blanks now, so it's coming together quickly, but at the same time this last bit seems to be taking me ages and I really don't know why that is, so I'm still working on it. However Heroes and Heroines Supersized was released today, so I need to finish that page off so i can start my new project.

In other news I was at the Crafty Kitten stitching retreat this weekend with the lovely Angie from Miamina's Musings, Dawn from Crafty Kitten, Sarah from Paine Free Crafts and Eileen from Thread Pickerz and many other people, but they're the only ones that I can reliably link to. We had a fantastic weekend, but I didn't achieve quite as much stitching as intended due to spending far too much time talking instead but here's what I did achieve. I carefully set her up so that I wouldn't have to count at an point during the weekend, so at least that went well.

May re-cap

So it turns out that I've actually done more this month than I thought, which is oddly cheering, apparently the beginning of May was much further ago that I thought it was!

 Cloudsfactory 2014 SAL at the beginning of May

 And at the end of May

 Family Values by Paul Kidby at the beginning of May

 And at the end

 Heather by Hannah Lynn at the beginning of May

And also at the end

All in all, not bad, even if I do say so myself.

And I also managed my word count, although it was a little bit like pulling teeth. I managed 10058 (so I really only did just get over 10000), but it's still progress, all good :-)

Actual change

I didn't have as much time as I was hoping to this week, I've been getting distracted by other projects. Been working on my crochet and a dress pattern has been calling to me... actually it's not calling to me, I'm a tad scared of it, but I will manage it (with a little help from a friend maybe), but anyway, here is my progress this week, and there is an actual difference this week. I'd like to say that it'll be finished by next week, but I don't think I'll have much time this week. There will be something to show though!

Spot the difference

There honestly is a difference from last week, although you have to look quite hard to spot it. I'm not really sure where this week has gone. I'm hoping to have a bit more progress to show next week.

I did have a slight panic about the curve at the bottom of the D this morning, but I checked the picture and it's right, I should have trusted Sarah.

More than I expected

Considering how little time of spent on this this week, I'm surprised that I actually have so much growth to show. Mostly due to a couple of hours on Friday morning. Again, loving how fast tenting stitches up.

My C is still looking a little bit like a E, but it's improving, couple of weeks should have this finished. Maybe even one week if I really get down to it, but I'm not sure whether that will happen.

It's back

I love Family Values, it took me quite a lot of will power to not make it my main focus piece, the only reason I didn't is because Dragon Rider is intended as a gift, so I figured that I ought to work on that the most.

This is tented, so it's stitching up really fast, which is always nice, and you can already see this page coming together (if you know what you're looking for. You've got the shape of the I S and C appearing. I did have a brief panic that the C was starting to look suspiciously like an E until I realised that it was Death's scythe running through the middle.

Enjoying this one as usual, and hopefully it'll only be a couple of weeks for another page finish.

April re-cap

I'm aware that the April re-cap is coming a little hot on the heels of the March re-cap, but at least I've remembered this month. I do like seeing this each month, so I am trying to remember.

This is how the Cloudsfatory 2014 SAL finished the month, definite progress!

This is how it started the month - I'm aware that these two are the wrong way round, but blogger will not let me put the pictures the other way round, and I can't work out why.

Heather as she started the month

And as she finished the month, kinda weird looking, but definite progress

 Dragon Rider as it started the month

And how it finished the month. Not a massive amount of progress, but a page finish means I moved on to another project.

Writing, also not bad, I managed 11344 words, so I hit my target, which I am very proud of, but I'd me a lot more proud if I hadn't done over 5000 of those in one day, begging the question of what I really did for the rest of the month? Oh well, word count is still work count.

Not a bad week

So, this is Heather all ready for me to take to my stitching retreat with me. All I have to do is colour in the black, none of that pesky counting involved, so I don't have to worry about getting distracted and making a mistake (hopefully anyway.)

Second up I have my Cloudsfactory 2014 SAL, which is starting to vaguely look like something, even if I am only working on the border still. This was started during a new start event last year so I only did a couple of hundred stitches and moved on. I've also discovered that as I made it ridiculously small (1 over 1, full crosses on 28 count) it's the perfect size for my needle minders :-)

March re-cap (a bit late, I know)

I know, it's ridiculously late, apparently I didn't achieve much in March.

This is where I started Dragon Rider

This is where I finished!

In other news my writing went quite well (a lot better than it's gone this month so far), I managed a word count of 12427.

Heather returns

She's looking a bit surreal at the moment. I'm doing all the outlining on this row for this rotation. There's a odd sort of logic for this. I'm thinking that I'm going to take Heather to the Craft Retreat in June, which means that I can then do all the filling in without having to count and so without having to worry about miscounting and messing up because I'm not concentrating!

Third finish of the year

As promised, I did manage to finish this last week, it's now with the framer, so that it can be gifted soon.
Stats:
Design by Cloudsfactory
Fabric: Shades of Autumn by Sparklies
2 over 2 on 28 count.

Another couple of days should do it

I've nearly finished, and as the title says, another couple of days should finish it, then I'll be back into my rotation, and mostly done with presents. My only remaining present is my long term project for my mum, so I can get back to my own things for a while!

I've recently redesigned my rotation, meaning that I have priority 1, priority 2 and everything else, so some projects will work up more quickly than others. It's ridiculously complicated, but it works for me.

If you're interested my rotation now works like so:

A, B, C, D, A, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, A, G, H, I, A, B, C, D, A, J, K, L and so on. See, needlessly complicated, but works for me. If you're interested A is Dragon Rider, B, C and D are Heather, Cloudsfactory Calendar and Family Values, and everything else is everything else.

When A B C or D are completed, something else will get promoted to being a priority piece. I'm hoping it means that having priority projects will mean that I get to see more progress on those (well, of course it will, duh!), but it means that it'll be a longer time between each time I work on other projects. It's logical in my head. Having a basic rotation meant I was only working on each project once a year, so this way means more attention to some, but other might go a couple of years at the moment.

Happy Stitching all!

Page finish!

Here's my page finish on Dragon Rider, which I'm very excited about, and a page finish means that I unroll it and show a full picture thus far.

Loving seeing the wings come together and I'm debating where to go next. I know the next page down would be the obvious route, but I don't want to end a project working on a page full of tree or similar, so I'm tempted to work round the edge and then finish on the dragon. Hmmm, not sure, but I've got a little while to think about it.

Happy stitching all!