Happy New Year! Here’s hoping it’s a good one.
Things went kinda crazy at the beginning of December, what with the particularly virulent strain of flu going around. I haven’t been sick yet, but about half of my coworkers have, and that makes for lots of overtime and not much else. There’s no end in sight yet, either.
I still managed to find stitching-time, though. Or forcefully carve it out of what little free time I had, as it were, and finished a kit from my stash and a quick stitch for my mother.
TA-DA!
Hedgehogs in Ligonberries – Alexandra Gusarova – Riolis kit
I like the detail in the kits from this company, but the threads took some getting used to. They’re a lace weight yarn, rather than floss. These guys need ironed, and then I’m possibly taking them to a craft store/framer in town. Dimensions are 9 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches.
I’m particularly fond of this, as I had an African Pygmy Hedgehog as a pet when I started it. He developed wobbly hog syndrome and has since died.
Lily of the Valley – Ida Shtandel – Riolis kit
A quick stitch for my mom; one of her favorite flowers. It’s around 5 x 6 inches on 16 count (63 x 77 stitches) with yarn again, instead of floss. I’ll probably end up mounting this on foam board and adding a hanger on the back.
And now for the starts!
Butterfly Profusion – Dimensions kit
Attempted gridding with 5lb fishing line. Still not sure what to think of it. Either way, one more kit from the stash is in progress, and I am reminded of why I loathe 14 count Aida. 2 strands of floss just won’t provide satisfactory coverage, and with a kit, I’m hesitant to increase the number of strands in use at a time. So! I grit my teeth and deal with it, and remind myself that from a proper viewing distance, it’s not going to be as bad as it looks to me while I’m working on it.
Neglected Floss SAL– Magical525 – deviantART.com
This NFSAL is ongoing over at the Stitching Pirates group on dA. I chose the option to do it as one big piece instead of 12 small ones. The fabric is MCG Textiles 28 count evenweave in natural, with DMC 597, 3808, and 3825. Stitched 2 over 1 so that the stitches would stand out a bit more.
So far, I’ve spent almost as much time frogging as I have stitching on this one. 😑 That left side? Still needs redone. Somehow I managed to flip the x-es the wrong way, all the way down. For now I am ignoring its existence.
In other stitchy news, I’m working on kitting up for a few projects that are going to be rather cost heavy. Two of them are the Small Spices blocks from Martina Rosenberg over at Chatelaine designs – Black Pepper and Ginger. They use almost entirely the same flosses and beads, but the majority of the flosses are silks.
Also in the works is Blackwork Journey’s Save the Stitches. I only need one more color of beads for that and it’ll be ready to go.
And Autumn Prince (HAED – Kayomi Harai) is ready to go! It’s sits there on top of my stash box, giving me incentive to finish my kits.
3rd Shift Stitcher 