#81 IHSW Round Up!

Well once again the weekend has flown by, and as ever there just never seems to be enough hours in the day.

Not so much hermitting or stitching happening today - it was my Grandad's 70th Birthday today so we all met up at his local to have a drink.

However yesterday was a bit more productive. This time I worked on the HAED BB SAL Mystic Garden. This is slow going for me but when I compared pictures I've done better than I thought I had so I suppose I can't complain too much.

This is how it looked before:

Before IHSW

Here it is now!

17-03-13

I really don't know how some of the stitchers have already completed the two released  pages - they are speed daemons with the needle clearly!

Fingers crossed this coming week should be a good one for me, we both have a week off work (yippee!) with only plans for Monday and Thursday, so fingers crossed I will have lots of stitching news for you!

Have a great week everyone!

Emma/Itzy

xo

#65 What a day! Plus IHSW

Phew! Finally made it home in one piece, as predicted the snow came and made the commute to work eventful! But luckily we were prepared, I didn't sleep well last night so in the early hours of the morning I watched it come down so when I woke up this morning it was no surprise.

Luckily work let us leave an hour early today to get home before the rush hour :)

Now, on to IHSW! This weekend I worked on Mystic Garden, I didn't really feel like I had done much but comparing it to last weeks photo then I am pretty happy - especially now I can see the beginnings of a tiger paw at the bottom :)

Before

After! 20-01-13

Other than that I did a little more on Mini The Black, but that is just even more 310 so would make a rather boring photo for you all!

I hope everyone has a great week and I look forward to seeing how everyone else got on!

Emma xo

p.s. I haven't forgotten about the giveaway - it will be launched very soon!

#61 I am a really slow stitcher!

As the weekend comes to a close I have realised something, what a slow stitcher I am! Looking at everyone else who is working on the HAED BB SAL everyone is MILES ahead of me already. I feel like the Turtle and everyone else is the Hare, except I expect them all to win the "race".

Before

Never mind, I am enjoying it none the less. I got about another 200-300 stitches in this week - another block at the top then I decided to make a start on the bottom of the page to see if I could find the first tiger. As you can see I am still on the hunt!

13-01-13

Also this week I got in another 400 stitches in to Mini The Black - guess what colour it was?! Yep! Good old 310!

Before

13-01-13

Please forgive the terrible lighting - I forgot to take a photo while we still had daylight!

Well the snow has now started to fall, only lightly at the moment but it is there, looking like a dusting of icing sugar everywhere. According to the weather it is going to snow from now until tomorrow night - I can only dream of waking up tomorrow morning to find so much I can't get to work... ;) hehehe.

I cannot complain really, I have a short week at work as I have booked a days holiday on Friday, I have no plans really so I am hoping I can sit and stitch to my hearts content - you have to treat yourself every now and again right?

Hope everyone has a great week!

Emma xo

#58 New Starts Galore!

Good afternoon!

Thank you so much for all my birthday wishes in my past two posts, you are all so kind. The only problem I am having with this new layout is I can't seem to reply to any comments left, I have no idea why, but please be assured I am not ignoring you! I have tried my best to solve the issue but to no avail so for now I think I am going to have to reply via email when it arrives in my inbox. Not ideal but there you go. If anyone could shed a little light on this it would be much appreciated!

Now, on to stitching. To say I didn't join the Crazy January Challenge I have made a pretty good attempt in keeping up! In the first four days I had three new starts. Thankfully I now seem content with these to keep me occupied.

I have decided January will be my "do what you want" month, after which my main focus will be the wedding sampler as that NEEDS to be done.

Speaking of which that was the first project I picked up, only a few stitches in but a start is a start, right?! This is done on iridescent white 14ct Aida.

Next, after my first day back at work this year (boooo!) I made a start on Mini the Black. This is on 25ct Magic Guide and I am trying 2x1 tent for the first time. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I wanted to give it a go so I could at least say I've tried. 800 stitches in so far - all of them 310!

Finally on Friday the first page on the HAED BB SAL arrived in my inbox so of course I HAD to start it. Got the first 100 stitches in. This is done again on 25ct Magic Guide, but this time 1x1 full cross. This chart really is confetti madness (20 colours in this one block alone!) and I dare say the most challenging piece I have ever done. If I get this done then I really will be proud of myself!

For now I am going to continue on the SAL, I figure if I get a head start on it this month it will give me some breathing space before the next page is due.

Happy Stitching all!
Emma xo

#47 IHSW part 1

I have so much to share, so this months updates will be in two parts over the weekend! I really am spoiling you all :) hehe

 

First, I won a prize! Dear Lee over at Notes from under the Mountain informed me I was the 150th follower and as a small token of appreciation wanted to send me a little something, how fun :D So in a couple of weeks I will be postman stalking - always nice to have something to look forward to!

Secondly, I want to invite you all to join in the 2013 YOTA over at Pull The Other Thread. Basically the first Saturday of each month we will show work on a long neglected WIP in the hope it will help us get it finished. I think it sounds like a great idea and will definitely make me get some long overdue progress on some of my WIPS/UFOs! 

Now, stitching. Today I started and finished a little something, hooray! This cute garland came free with Cross Stitcher issue 257. It was my first time stitching on card and I think it has turned out quite nice and I know just the place it will be hung in December.

As suspected I did eventually join the HEAD BB SAL. It took me a while to decide but in the end I settled on QS Mystic Garden. The rules this year are slightly different in that for each half page you finish you get one of the other charts! I like the sound of that!

Something tells me this will be confetti hell heaven, but I like a challenge!

Lastly, Mr Postman was ever so kind to me this morning and delivered my thread pack for Mini Transcendence! YAY! I was to start right this second sooo much but I am going to be good and wait for the new year.

Mini Transcendence Goodies! 

Sadly this photo does not show the beautiful hand dyed fabric at its best, but click Here to see it in all its glory!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Emma xo