Updating Soon.

My laptop died and that had all my pics and blog things on it so it will be awhile before I update my blog. I hope to get some new pics and do a new post within a week or so.
Until then Happy Holiday Stitching.
Love Karen

How Many Shades of Grey? And Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

I've pulled out my lovely Mini Soul Mates now that I can stitch again. And I haven't counted how many shades of grey are in it, but there are quite a few.
Here is what it looked like the last time you saw it:

And here is a picture of it since I've been working on it  the past week or so.

I seriously love this chart.

I also have put some stitches in on my Live Love Laugh kit.

This is such a pretty little kit, it just makes me smile. Reason enough to work it!

I've been thinking of a really big project, which is crazy for someone who stitches as slowly as I do, but all the same. I've long held a secret desire to stitch The Sistine Chapel ceiling. There are 3 charts for it that I know of and I've been comparing the HAED version to the Joanna Roberts version. There is a group on Face Book devoted strictly to those stitching the Sistine Chapel so I've been avidly watching their progress. I've yet to come across anyone stitching the Artecy version, so if you know of anyone stitching it let me know.

Of course I've also wanted to stitch at least 2 other charts, both bigger than this, so I could still change my mind.
Meanwhile I'm trying to focus myself on just the charts I already have. They are all much loved and there has been a battle of the charts going on in my efforts to decide which I love the most, and so, which should be stitched on first! Still working on that, plus, with all the back issues of Just Cross Stitch there are a number of patterns I'd love to work. So many lovely things and not a tenth enough time to stitch them all.

Happy Stitching Everyone
Karen

Decisions, Surprises

I haven't had a lot to blog about in that I hurt my neck on my experimental project and couldn't stitch for a bit. I do have a bit to show on that from before I was hurt, but I haven't taken photo's yet. I also got a little done on my Live Love Laugh and haven't taken pics of that yet either.

I am actually sharing a great surprise I got, an RAK from Dana Dragonheart. Don't you just love that name? It was a real surprise on Friday, when I also was working my first day of having changed shifts at work and it just made the whole day feel sort of special. I feel so blessed and thankful.

You see, being a slow stitcher I decided that one of my favorite charts might actually get stitched if I did it as a mini. Day Night was released as a mini back in July of this year and I put it on my wishlist.

I know Heaven and Earth completely re chart when they make a mini so today I am comparing the mock-ups.
Here is the mock up of the original full sized chart at 400 X 563 stitches.

And here is the Mini mock up at 237 X 334:

Quite a big color difference in them! Both are lovely and they use many of the same colors. I'm still comparing floss lists etc. but thought I'd share just to show the differences in a Full sized and a mini. I've seen lots of questions over the months and thought it might be helpful to those wanting to compare. Both are available at Heaven and Earth Designs.
I'll be back soon with a proper stitching update.

Until then Happy Stitching!

After The Frogging

And a new start.

I thought I'd show you my Friday SK SAL Spider Queen after the frogging last Friday and my new stitches today. I've had some pain and doubt I'll be stitching on it again today so it has gone away until next Friday.

The stitching is a bit smoother and I really didn't want to stop but common sense with the amount of pain I was experiencing finally won out. I am a slow stitcher to begin with and working on the frame used to be faster for me but now it is slower. A great deal slower. Hopefully I'll pick up speed as I get used to stitching on a frame and parking again. The half crosses are ok but I am wondering if I shouldn't have gone ahead with the 3 over 1 instead of the 2 over. As you can see I am still missing some colors so there are blank spots.

To celebrate paying off a debt I treated myself by starting this.

It is a sweet little kit and I love the cheerful colors. Also love how quickly the lettering stitches up.

I also put a few stitches into my blue and white sampler, but not a lot and I didn't take a picture. Will have to catch that next time.
It has been another busy week but I'm satisfied I fit some stitching time in when I could.

Until next time
Happy Stitching
Karen

An Untangled Web

So, one of the less flattering pics I've ever posted is about to be revealed. This is my experiment on 25 count and with half cross stitch. It was coming along on it's SAL Friday and I was feeling OK about it until I realized everything was one stitch off. Then I had to frog. Yuck to frogging, and the smaller the count the bigger the yuck to unpicking it.
So SK Spider Queen after stitching and then unpicking.

Never let it be said I am unwilling to show my boo-boos! Rarely has a stitching blog posted an uglier pic of stitching than this one.

On a brighter note, I also was working on my Blue and White Sampler during the week. This chart is from the Fall 1987 issue of Needlecraft Ideas, A Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I'm pretty happy with the way it is coming along and how easy it is to pick up and put down when you are busy.

Hopefully next week will show more progress on this and on SK the Spider Queen. With any luck she will look a bit more presentable.

Until next time Happy (frogless) Stitching!
Karen

Test Stitching Experiments and a Small Update.

If you saw my last blog post then you know I am playing with some 25 ct. DMC Magic Guide that was very kindly sent to me by Lesli. I've even tried stitching on a frame and I know I'm not supposed to do that. In the past I've tried going back to a frame and put myself out of stitching for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks because of the pain. But I tried it again for part of the 25 count and will keep trying in all likelihood because for me, my stitching looks much better on a frame.

I'm also experimenting with just plain half cross stitch on this project. Hey, in for a penny in for a pound!

First about the fabric. It is sort of soft but not too much, and sort of nubby, but not too much. I find I like the feel of it and it is easy to stitch, given its count and my eyesight. I can see very little showthrough in my stitching doing 2 over 1 half cross but in the extreme zoom photo's your about to see I definitely see a lot of show through which isn't visible at all to the naked eye. I might try 3 over 1 in the future but I think that would make for some very tight stitching in the confetti areas.

Anywho...

If you click on the photos you can see them in all their glory, the good and the bad. This is the first 750 or so stitches of SK The Spider Queen from Heaven and Earth Designs. I wasn't too sure I'd love working with these colors but I do. The open spaces are threads that I didn't have and that weren't available locally so they will have to wait until I place an order.

The Magic guide throws me off by having the gridding! How dumb is that? I do grid but I grid every 10 block and this is every 20 so I'm having to adjust and it is harder than it sounds. This chart is only 75 stitches wide btw. Some I stitched on frame as I said, and the rest I stitched in hand, all in half cross stitches. Normally I wouldn't mix them up that way but this is a test piece and that is how test stitching goes for me. I'm too slow a stitcher to do big sections of both and then decide.

I plan to try some other 25 ct. fabrics as soon as I can afford them. DMC doesn't sell the magic guide in the US so it would be expensive for me to buy if I get too attached to it. Do you have any recommendations on 25 ct.? I generally prefer natural fabrics.

Now to my other stitching this week.
I continued on with the Blue and White Sampler and actually had some stitching time. Not a lot of it but more than I have been having. I had to frog one little area twice and so drew in some grid lines and that is when I realized the chart itself, when it moves from one page to the next, doesn't have evenly numbered grid lines. They start over on the next page! So I wasn't just being dense but really, who does that?

Here is an update picture.
Last time:

And the progress:

Excuse the wrinkles, but I do stitch in hand.

Happy Stitching until next time my friends!

Feels like Autumn Stitching

A little stitch here, a little stitch there and slowly you start to see progress.
Well, that is the theory anyway.

The weather feels wonderful here right now. Not too cool and not too warm. The puppies are loving it and so am I. This is my favorite time of year I think. I'm not a winter loving girl but I do love the opening show for it.

I have been working stitching into my schedule when I can.
First up is QS Mystic Garden from the HAED BB SAL. Warning! Not a lot of progress but enough to make me feel as if I worked on it.

Before:

And After:

Enough to satisfy for the moment.

I also pulled out my Blue and White Sampler yesterday. You may remember that I mentioned getting this one half way finished many years ago and then it was lost in a move or something so I re-started. And then didn't touch it again for months. Sigh.
So before:

And after:

I really do love this one so hopefully it will see more time in the near future.

The 25 ct. experiments continue and I am trying to give it a good chance with half cross 2 over one. It can be a challenge for eyes that will be 50 years old in two weeks! I was diagnosed with tiny cataracts in both eyes in January of this year so I am pleasantly surprised to be able to work this count at all. I forgot to take a picture of that so next time I will try to remember. There isn't much to see yet anyway. I've gotten so used to counting over blocks it sometimes throws me off a little. How sad is that?

So just for fun I thought I'd show you these. In the picture below you see my first ever needlepoint attempts. Both are from more years ago than I care to think about. These were made when I was in my scale miniatures phase. I do not recommend learning to needlepoint in 1 inch = 1 foot. I only still have them because they were learning pieces and not good enough to actually use (I'd probably use them now though) in a miniature setting.

The dime is for scale.
The little carpet was done on either 22 or 28 mesh, can't remember, and the shell was meant to be the seat for a chair. It was done on either 48 or 58 silk canvas with a beading needle and one strand of floss. Note the distortion from using half cross stitch. I will have to see if I can find one of the mini afghans I crocheted back then, they were adorable, also made with 1strand of embroidery floss.

Well, I'm looking at another hugely busy week and will get back with you all as soon as I have something fun to show.

Happy stitching everyone!