IHSW - April

Thank you for all your kind messages about my health after my last post, I was on the mend but sadly had a bit of a setback last week and ended up stuck in bed for a few days.  I am recovering, I'm just having to take it very easy and go slowly....something I tend to struggle with!

Also, poor little Charlie, our American Cocker Spaniel has been under the weather too, He's getting old now and every time a Vet visit is required I always worry, thankfully it's not anything too serious, just rest and time, so we are chilling out together!

As a lot of you may know, it was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend this weekend and I actually managed to get a bit of stitching done, thanks to my forced "taking it easy"!

On Saturday, I dug out Candy Cane Christmas by Ursula Michael that I've been stitching along with Linda and Sasha (check the Saturday SAL tab out for more info).

March

April

I know Linda has been taking part in various challenges so I've not stitched on it every week as I don't want to get too far ahead, it's hard as it's such a fun stitch!

Then Sunday I carried on with stitching The Three Fates - Jasmine Becket-Griffith (HAED).

Friday

Monday

Not masses done, but at least enough to see a little difference :)  I'm going to take it off the QSnaps later so I'll take a full photo then.

Overall I'm really thrilled with the progress and it's been a good weekend!

Thank you to the new followers, I hope that enjoy reading and looking at the pictures.  Please feel free to leave comments, it's always great to hear from people!  I'm sneaking ever closer to the 100 mark, once I hit it, I think it might be time for another give-away!

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - January

As it was so cold this weekend, it was the perfect excuse to "Hermit and Stitch"!  I've been a little lapse in sharing pictures of Pyramid 4, which has been my primary focus since before Christmas.  Once I've finished this post, I'll make a point of updating my "Work in Progress" tab so that you can see the recent pictures.  However, I'll show you the most recent progress from this weekend!

This was the starting point on Saturday morning:

....and where I got to on Sunday night:

As you can see, not far to go now, so I think I'm going to stick with it until it's completed.  I know I was going to start a rotation, but once this is done, I will start it!

IHSW - August 2014

This is my progress for the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend!

Before

After

Not tons, but a decent amount and at least you can see a difference!  I'm planning to carry on stitching it week as I'm enjoying it!

Looking forward to catching up with everyone else's weekend stitching!

IHSW - July

I've not been blogging as much recently due to a family visit and other stuff going on, however this post is just an update for what I've been up to this weekend!  I actually managed to do a little bit of stitching in between a shopping trip to IKEA and my American Cocker Spaniel, Charlie, needing surgery on his mouth, which he now recovering from very well, so it's been a bit of a busy one for us!

I've only done a bit but it was all on Pyramid 4 - Ciro Marchetti (HAED).  I took a picture on Friday when I moved my QSnaps so you can see the whole thing:

Then this one was taken this morning:

I've only really done a bit more of the border, but I managed to finish the shading stitches all the way to the bottom! I'm really enjoying this at present so I think I'll stick with it.

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Thank you for stopping by!

IHSW - April 2014 & a Finish!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Easter weekend, whether it's something you celebrate or not.  I used it as an opportunity to get some extra stitching in as it also happened to be International Hermit and Stitch Weekend too!

I decided to work on The Three Fates.

Before:

After:

It's not that easy to see as it's still on the QSnaps but there is some progress!

I also managed to get Celtic Fairy finished as well, I did hope that she'd be done soon and I pushed through and got her done!

Wide shot

Close - up

Apologies for the slightly crumpled picture as I haven't pressed her yet.  Whilst I love the fabric, I think I made a bit of a bad choice as you can't see the moon clearly behind her.  I still like it though and it is a bit clearer in person as the sparkles help.

She was stitched on 28ct Jazlyn in Dawn Blush from Crafty Kitten Fabrics using DMC threads and the chart was designed by Joan Elliott and featured in CrossStitcher Magazine Issue 227 (July 2010).

Now to look through everyone else's posts!

January IHSW

I actually managed to get some stitching in during this IHSW and it was on a WIP that hasn't been touched since August 2012!  I'm thrilled to be working on it again as it's a lovely picture.  It's Endless Dream - Christophe Vacher (HAED) as I've not worked on this for a while I'll show you what it'll (hopefully) look like when it's finished!

Before (Aug 2012)

After

I had a slight colour incident but hopefully it's not noticeable!  I'm pretty happy with progress that I made and I'm happy to add it into my current (informal) stitching plan.  If you aren't familiar with International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, click on the little picture on the sidebar and it'll take you to Random Ramblings which gives you all the information so you can join in next month!

It was lovely to have some comments about the book blogs and I'm very sure that Emma and Thea will be pleased to have a few more visitors to their pages.  As a few seem to be interested in books, I've added a small link on the sidebar to show the book I'm currently reading and if you click it, it'll take you to the Amazon UK page for that book which gives you more information about it and also reviews. 

Thank you for reading, hope you all had a great weekend.  I look forward to reading all your posts, even if it takes me a while!

IHSW - July

I hope everyone is doing well and hey to my new followers, lovely to see you!  It's really hot in the UK, whilst it's nicer than freezing, it hasn't been great for stitching.  I have done some this weekend but not a great deal.

I decided to work on QS Clara - Hannah Lynn (HAED)

Friday

Sunday

As you can see, I've done some of the background, it's not too much but it is progress so I'm happy!

Hope you all have a great weekend, I'll look forward to seeing your progress pictures!

IHSW - June

I hope you all had a great weekend!  I had a fairly busy one but managed to get a good amount of time for stitching too thankfully!

I worked on Pyramid 4 for the whole weekend and managed to get some of the nasty confetti bits of the scarab done.  It was nice to be able to stitch something other than brown!

Friday

Monday

It's quite funny, whilst you are stitching you think you really haven't made any progress, it's only when you put the photo's together that you really see it starting to grow.  Still a very long way to go, but I'm happy!

IHSW - February

I know it's a day late but this is my IHSW post!

Before:

After:

I didn't really get as much done as I wanted, but as I haven't stitched her since September last year so any progress is good.

I haven't had a chance to check out everyone's progress as yet but I hope you all had a good weekend.

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - August

Well I was naughty.....not exactly a surprise if you know me!  At least this time it didn't involve spending money.

I started a new BAP (Big A$$ Picture)!  It's actually one that I've had around for a long while - at least a year or so!  I bought the kit from Colray Crafts of Zindy Nielsen's A Rose For My Love:

As my threads hadn't arrived for the charts I got for my birthday and this one was ready and waiting with gridded fabric, working copy of the chart and the complete set of threads, I decided to make a start.  I know I shouldn't really as I've got others I really should be working on and I plan to start The 3 Fates as soon as my stash arrives, but I'm blaming the pre-wedding nerves (only 1 month to go) and needed something to distract me (yeah I know.....any excuse!).

I haven't got too far but this is my small amount of progress:

Please excuse the 2 colour gridding, my pen ran out so I did the top bit in red fabric marking washable pencil!

I definitely think that next year, I'm ditching the rotation, not joining up to any SAL's and just doing my own thing, stitching on what I want, when I want....well that's the plan for now, whether I stick to that who knows! :)

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - July

Hope everyone had a good weekend and got lots done!  It was a fairly quiet weekend, watched lots of sport and stitched so managed to get a fair bit done. 

I worked on QS Clara, I plan on doing all the black outline first then colouring it in.  It does get a little dull doing the black and I really want to see some colour but it works well when rotating!

This is before:

and the after:

 

I'm really happy with how it's taking shape, I just wish I stitched quicker.

I've just decided to pick up Endless Dream again, so hopefully there will be a little progress for you to see next time!

 

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - June

Sorry I'm posting this a little late but I was so close to a finish I just wanted to hang and and get the last little bit of beading done!

So after being a UFO for 5 years or so, Henry VIII is finally finished!

I'm so happy to get this done and it feels so good to see it completed.  I have to say I'm not 100% happy with it and I know that there are a lot of people who could have done it much better, but it's not too bad.  It's going to be going to my mum, who has loved it from the day I bought it as she was with me.  She's going to get it framed herself so that she can choose the right frame for her.

Thanks very much for all the encouragement that kept me going when it was close to being thrown back in the cupboard!

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend

Well I've had a really successful International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW)!

I managed to finish TT Violet Sometimes!

I'm really happy with how it turned out, but I feel a little guilty calling this my first HAED finish as it's a small chart so feels like I'm cheating.  Thank you to everyone that has provided such supportive and helpful comments along the way, it's very much appreciated!

I also managed to put a few stitches into Henry VIII but not enough to really notice any progress.  This will be my next focus piece as it's so close to a finish it makes sense to push on and get that last bit done.

I also have to tell you how lovely people in the cross stitch community are!  In the past month I've been lucky enough to be gifted 2 HAED charts, Mini Memory (Nene Thomas) from Sam and QS Snap Dragon Fairy (Jasmine Becket-Griffith) from Liz.  I really cannot express how much this kindness is appreciated and I cannot thank you enough.

 

Mini Memory

QS Snap Dragon Fairy

Just as a final note, one of the HAED artists, Fred Winkler is being retired at the end of June.  He's an amazing digital artist and I love his works, thanks to Michele for the "head's up" so that we have a chance to snatch up his charts before they are no longer available and if you are quick, there is a 50% off sale just to help you a little.  Although I have enough charts to last me a few years, I'm still going to purchase a few of Fred's as they are lovely.  These are a few of the ones I like, it may prove to be expensive!

   

IHSW - April

Well I actually managed to remember that it was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW) and I managed to get a fair bit of stitching done as I was watching the F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain.  I won't go into the politics of whether it should have taken place, but it was a good race.

I've managed to get a fair bit of stitching done on TT Violet Sometimes and I've decided that instead of rotating, I'm going to stick with it until it's completed....well that's the plan anyway!

I have to apologise for the poor quality photo, I couldn't find the batteries for the camera (OH "tidied" them away) so I had to take the photo with my phone and that camera sucks.

Hope you all managed to get some stitching in and I can't wait to stop by your blogs and check the photo's out!