Finished cards

So this has been another busy teaching week, and I’ve been doing quite a lot of cross stitch because I understand it, and it always goes the way I want to. With the result that my mum’s mothers day card is now finished!

I finished the cross stitch

broke out my new toy- coloured card 😀

stuck it all together

and finished with some writing- I should practice my writing more, but where’s the time?

I also made up another card that’s been floating around for a while

I already have a plan for this card, but I need to knit something as well before it’ll be sent off.

Now it’s back to the blanket again…yipee.

WIPocalypse the third

Time for another WIPocalypse meeting! Wow doesn’t time fly? Well, this full moon, the topic is:

If money – and time – were not limiters, what projects would be on your stitching bucket list?

This is an easy one- all the Goddess faces from Joan Elliot. Starting with the Green Goddess

This has been tentatively promised to my parents for the conservatory, to cover a rather ugly box on the wall which has all the wires and things for the lights. So I already have an excuse to stitch this…just need the time!

There are also faces for the four seasons:

and a Rose Goddess

They all make a lovely set 🙂

There’s also a Sun God, but I’m not so sure about him- probably because I haven’t seen it all stitched, just in progress in one of my fb groups 🙂

I also have plans to restitch Frederick a few more times, again, just need to find the time!

At the moment, I’m still fairly new to cross stitching, and I’m quite young, so I haven’t reached SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy) yet! I fully intend (and believe that it is possible) to do all of these, soonish.

So, onto the next part of WIPocalypse- my progress. (I had to go back to the previous WIP post to see what I’d done that long ago!)

My butterfly:

The border is more than half done now, which is really exciting! Hopefully I can get it finished in March…

 

Love is…

This was finished in a month??? I’m fairly surprised by this as well- I thought that I would get massively bogged down in the backstitching! But it was such a small piece I didn’t mind all the backstitching! Woot! When the baby is born, I’ll put their details underneath, and hopefully frame it in a double frame so the couple can have a baby photo in it as well 🙂

Mother’s Day card

Something else I finished very quickly (just over a weekend). To be fair, there isn’t exactly a lot of stitching in it! I even took a trip to Hobbycraft to get a quilling kit to make the hearts 🙂 I need lots of practice, but I really like the idea of adding some quilled bits to my stitched cards 🙂

Another card

Clearly, I am currently loving these small pieces! this was a great stash-buster, and I’m already planning more of them, with different coloured cats. Yes, there is a lot of confetti and backstitching, but it looks so darn cute! I didn’t even get bored of it as I was doing it, which was amazing!

At the moment, I’m having fun creating a ‘stash’ of completed stitched cards so that when a special occasion pops up, I can just get one, rather than having to make a new one. I would love to hear whether or not you have one? What sorts of cards do you keep on hand? Special occasions, or just generic cards which can be used in any situation?

A flurry of finishes (but still no knitting!)

So, what does everyone think of ‘flurry’ being the collective noun of finishes? I think it suits really well 🙂

I finished the cat, and it’s absolutely gorgeous!

I want to make loads of these now, with different cat styles. They’d be great stash busters 🙂 And then I remembered how much confetti/backstitching there is, particularly in the flowers, and decided I needed to lie down until I stopped wanting to do that!

Then, while high on endorphins for finishing something, I decided that I didn’t really need to press my juggling ball, so got on and finished that (one juggling ball totally counts as a finish, right?) Getting my corners to line up proved to be impossible, but maybe with the next two I’ll improve 🙂

It’s partially filled with rice, to give it it’s weight. I’d better get a move on with the other two, I want to start juggling with it already 🙂

I’ve also been doing more on my ‘love is’ piece- it’s now got their faces! I’m not enjoying all the backstitching for their hands, but it’s so totally worth it 🙂

Hopefully that’ll be finished soon! So quite a few finishes from me, really 🙂 And just a few days ago I also finished the cross stitch for my Mothers Day card. I went to Hobbycraft to get a quilling kit, so here it is in all it’s finished glory 🙂 I loved making the hearts, but I’m certain I need more practice! Lots and lots of practice! The book in the kit I got also has some really cool projects to make, so at some point I’ll have a go at them 🙂

Now I’m off to spend the rest of the day on my butterfly…I wonder how far I’ll get 🙂

 

What *was* going to be a knitting post

…except that the sock doesn’t fit any more…

I finished the first sock the other day, and found it was a little too small *mutter mutter*. I’ve been doing a toe-up version of these, (ravelry link) which were lovely when finished. The only difference this time around is that I knitted it toe-up, which apparently makes a Very. Big. Change.

So the damn thing doesn’t fit. Except that it fitted before. When it was first done, it fitted very nicely on my right foot (the smaller of the two. Do other people have different sized feet, or is it just me?)

So, although I started the second one, it’s gone back away again- I don’t really want to frog a finished sock, which I think I need to do, so it’s hiding until I think of anything better to do.

So the cross stitching has still been in charge of my life. Which does mean that I finished my mother’s day stitching 🙂

The stitching reads ‘With Love On Mothers Day’. I think that it is a gorgeously simple design 🙂 There are some more like this which don’t have Mother’s Day sayings on them, which I think I’ll stitch up for other occasions 🙂

Then I moved onto another card- they’re so quick and simple, it’s wonderful 🙂 There was quite a lot of confetti and backstitching, which was a pain, but it’s so worth it when it’s done 🙂

I’ve now just got the rest of the cat to do (Just noticed that the tan floss is covering up the cat’s face- it’s gorgeous in person 🙂 ) and then that’ll be another card finished for some special occasion 🙂 I don’t think that I want to use it!

My rota has rather gotten out of control lately, so I’m scrapping that idea :/. Instead, I’m going to try a ‘one out, one in’ idea, where I need to finish one thing before I can start another. So I’ve seen a gorgeous sewn pouch I’d like to make, but before I start it I need to finish my juggling balls, which inspired me to pull them out. (And then put them away again because they need pressing, but still. It’s a start…). And I really want to try quilling (I think some quilled flowers would go wonderfully with my mum’s card 🙂 ). So before I even get the quilling kit, I need to finish something else. Not entirely sure what, since I don’t have any small things started, but still… maybe all that backstitching on the ‘love is’ piece. Hmm…

So, does anyone do this kind of plan for controlling their WIPs? I’d love to hear about what things worked well/didn’t work/if there are any tips for it???

WIPocalypse the second

So, the question for this check in is

How do you overcome that feeling that you’re in a rut with a particular project?

 

My version of ‘stuck in a rut’ is that I want the damn thing finished already. If I don’t want to work on a particular project, then I simply don’t. Last year, when I was still working on pokemon, at the end I stopped wanting to work on it, and just wanted to get it finished. So I put it down.

I am a slow stitcher, and setting myself arbitrary deadlines is a very silly thing to do, and the best way to get it out of my system is to just ignore the project until it calms down (yes, I know I didn’t do that for the OUAT, I was nearly finished with that). Obviously, this doesn’t really work when projects are nearly finished, because by that time they are nearly finished, and there is no way I will not get excited about them! Then I just try to stay fairly level-headed, and hope I get enough sleep!

Strangely enough, I don’t ever get the ‘I want this thing finished already’ feeling with my knitting. Which hopefully means that it’s just a juvenile thing, and eventually I’ll stop feeling like this at all.

So, that’s all about me and dealing with that feeling. Onto progress pics of what I’ve been working on. Umm, which really hasn’t been that much on any of these things… I did some more work on the butterfly,

and then quite a lot of what I had done needed frogging…

I also decided that I’m not going to carry on working on pokemon. This was a difficult decision for me to make- I found the pattern and started working on it when I was with my ex, then, well, he became my ex. I still intermittently worked on it, but I haven’t worked on it for a while now, and I guess that now I can accept that we don’t really work out as ‘just friends’.

However, I have done some other cross stitching. I made this card for a friend who was going through some bad stuff

and some on a small piece for my cousin, who is expecting a child. It’s a ‘love is’ kit from DMc, and the quote is ‘love is a healthy baby’. However, all that I’ve done is some white and pink, neither of which are ideally suited for photographing, so that’s going to have to wait until I start backstitching.

 

I bought myself a treat :)

Yesterday, I needed to buy myself another embroidery hoop (my sister has ‘borrowed’ mine…), so, when I saw this lovely thing I just had to buy it.

And then, since I now have it,. obviously, rather than get on with my work, I needed to use it. It makes perfect sense, no? So I’ve finished one card,

and started another

So far I’m loving using it. Rather than sit on it, I stand it on the table and stitch on it that way. The only time I’ve had any issues with it is when I’m trying to start or end the thread, because you can’t turn the hoop completely up-side-down! But oh well, it’s really good the rest of the time, 🙂

I’m still thinking about rotas and things, so at the moment I’m just working on whatever takes my fancy (not that I think I could work on anything else, I’m having enough trouble putting it down to work on my maths!).

Also on the subject of rotas, discerning people may have noticed that my usual routine of once a week, on Saturday, has rather gone out the window! It’s currently doing a ‘when I have something to say and enough time to say it!’, and this may settle down, or may stay rather strange. Now that I’m starting to figure out how to change things around on the blog (I have done knitting this year, I just don’t have an accurate measure of how much yet!), you can sign up to get an email whenever I do write a post. There will be some other things coming up over on the right as well (like the pics of my awards), so there we go. I’m also thinking about the idea of having those meters for how far along in their stitchy plans they’ve come, so if anyone can suggest where to get hold of one, or something, I would be very happy 🙂

Testing, testing, can I get pictures to work now?

So, I know, I completely didn’t post last week. I tried to, but the internet here refused to let me upload pictures, so I left it, and completely forgot to try again later. Oops! So I scrapped that post, and then wrote this one. Let’s see if pictures work now!

So, remember the last time we met, I kinda gave up on the idea of knitting both the mittens for my dad (he loves the idea, which is great 🙂 )? Well, it turns out that that was a good idea, as even the larger size was too small! So I now have to knit another pair of mittens, this time with some more stitches and rows of ribbing. Which is great and everything, as it’ll mean he has a pair of handknit mittens which he’ll actually wear! But I’ve massively had enough of that patten and yarn right now! So what I’m thinking is to give myself a bit of a break, work on what I want to, and then maybe in the beginning of July start the pair properly. And hopefully by them figure out what to do for everyone for Christmas!

I also haven’t done anything else for the OUAT SAL, which is really annoying, as soon I’ll be three designs down, having done just a small part of May’s chart! However, this isn’t because I’ve lost interest, but rather I started another SAL, and have been enjoying that. Here is my progress so far on Stained Glass:

I’m stitching it up on 20-count aida, since I have decided that I don’t particularly like even-weave. When it’s done, I’m thinking of spending the following year colouring it in brightly, using blending filament to add some sparkle 🙂

I have managed to finish my other housemates card, as well. This was giving me kittens, for some bizarre reason, as she isn’t leaving till the end of July! But I am now glad that it’s done, even though it was lovely to stitch.

My aunts birthday is the last one I’m making anything for, and so I decided to carry on the elephant scheme! This is Suzie, the elephant-kangaroo hybrid, and Nelly(well, one of them had to be Nelly!) her finger puppet daughter! I think that they are utterly cute and adorable, even though Suzie’s legs were really awkward to stitch- my advice? Just go for it!

I have also been doing some knitting- I finished another pair of socks! Yay! I now have 8 pairs with (you guessed it!) another one on the needles! I did these two at a time, as I wanted them to completely match! Pretty successful plan, even if I do say so myself!

Naturally, I’ve already started another pair, which are probably going to be exclusively knitted on trains- I’m going to be travelling around a bit in the next few weeks, and I’ve been to Manchester yesterday for a conference. Very interesting.

I’ve also started (ad nearly finished) a shawl- Glitz at the Ritz. I’m doing it in a nice purple colour, with silver beads. It’s gotten so big that there isn’t any point me showing you a picture- all it look like is a puddle of knitting! I can’t wait to finish this and see what it looks like properly!

Well, that’s all from me that I can think of (yay for pictures working again!)

I did it! I did it! (Well, sorta!)

So, I managed to finish all the back stitching for my housemates-leaving card:

Yay! She’s leaving today, so I must now remember to give it to her! I hope she likes it *fingers crossed*

I also was sorta on track for the mittens for my dad, but then I finished the first one, and it still seems rather small for my dad- it just fits my length of hands, and I will be very surprised if our hands are the same size. So, I’m going to give him the first one, and if it fits, I can easily whip out the next one this coming week and give it to him before I come back to York! Otherwise, I’ll have to get my big guns out and knit two new mittens in a week…(it’s packed, but there isn’t exactly a lot for you to see, anyway!)

 

And then last night, I suddenly realised that I had a half-finished pair of handwarmers to go with my mum’s cowl as a birthday present (not for over a month yet, but if they’re finished now they don’t need to go through the postal system!) so I pulled them out to finish. The plan was to just finish the thumb on one of the handwarmers, and then just start the ribbing so I have something easy but not mind-numbingly boring as socks to take on the train ride tomorrow… and then a few hours later I figured I might as well darn all the ends in! Oops…

I probably won’t get a chance to write a new post next Saturday, as I’m going back to Salisbury for my dad’s and my birthdays, so normal transmission should resume the week after 🙂

Just a quick hello

 

Wow, Uni sure got hectic quickly! Work is really hard now, which I’m loving 🙂 I’ve also got a couple of jobs with the Uni, teaching the undergrads, which is good since I don’t have any kind of loan available. I’ve also applied for a bursary, so fingers crossed that goes well 🙂

I’ve still had some time to craft, but the blog is always going to be the first thing to go when life gets hectic for me. I just wanted to pop by and show you my latest creations:

Christmas fairy

I’m thinking that the next time I do this pattern, I’m going to use gold for the metallic, rather than the silver. The silver is very difficult to see against the white aida, and the gold will go with the red as well.

I’ve also been making some gift tags

cute little gift tags 🙂

which I think are pretty cool. There’s a Christmas fair at York Uni at the end of November, and I’ve applied for- I’ll find out whether or not I’ve been successful in my application in the middle of November. I’m also thinking of my (theoretical) etsy shop. What do you guys think?

I’ve also been doing some more backstitch on Frederick, but that’s all fairly boring, so I won’t bother with another picture of that until it’s finished.

So, that’s everything I’ve been working on. I’d quite like to get a big move on with Spirit soon, since a wonderful chart came out from HAED which I’m going to start in January- the treasure hunt bookshelf, available here. There’s a SAL of it planned on the facebook page, starting on January 1st, if any of you wanted to join in 🙂 Hopefully I’ll be able to fit in time to work on it…

Happy crafting, people

Shiny shiny things :)

So, after reading somewhere that there are only 18 weeks till Christmas(!), I decided to stop working on Spirit, and instead get a move on with some Christmas cards. Ideally, I want to have made them all before the new Uni term starts. This plan gives me about 2 weeks to do them all, since I’m going back to Plymouth on Sunday for two weeks. So far I have one completely made up, and one where all the stitching has been done, but it still needs finishing. This is what the latest one looks like

Lovely sparkly beads 🙂

I’m having lots of fun adding the beads. I think that if I do this one again, I’ll swap the position of the turquoise and silver bugle beads, since the turquoise ones are slightly longer, but apart from that I really like it. 🙂 It’s a bit difficult to see the silver cross stitches in this picture, they’re a lot more noticeable in real life 🙂 The whole of the middle (inside the dark orange) is silver, and there’s a silver edging around the whole thing.

I should be able to get them all done, if they all work up as quickly as this one. I started it yesterday evening, and today I finished this one and have done quite a lot for the next one. You can just about see the top of it in the picture. That one will be green and red and gold 🙂 I probably ought to count out how many I actually need to make… 😛

I also really want to try stitching with variegated thread at some point. I think that things stitched in it look really lovely, I just don’t know what I want to do! And ideas, anyone? I’m thinking maybe a letter G for my mummy, I’ve got a t-shirt keyring to use up as well…