Projects on the Go

I made a list the other day of all the projects I have on the go . . . and ones I want to start. I wanted to see how many I had and whether or not I needed to pair down my rotation so I actually, feesibly can finish some of them. I also wanted to know where I got them and how I was stitching them up. I like lists and trival informaiton like that. So far my list is:

Projects I'm working on:
The Last E Ticket Ride (HAED) 20ct 2x1 full
Pirates (HAED) 25ct 2x1 tent
Twilight Balloon Flight (patternsonline.com) 18ct 2x1 full
Iris (HAED) 28ct 2x1 tent
QS Curl up with a Good Book (HAED) 22ct 3x1 tent
Calla (HAED) 28ct 2x1 tent
City of Swords (HAED) 28ct 2x1 tent
Chinese Zodiac (123stitch.com) 14ct 2x1 full
The Accolade (HAED) 25ct 1x1 full
Clock Fractal (Cross Stitch Collectibles) 20ct 2x1 full
Grim Reaper (ebay) 14ct 3x1 full
Wreath for all Seasons (kit) 14ct 2x1 full
Carcassonne (PCStitch-myself) 14ct 3x1 full
Sprial Fractal (patternsonline.com) 18ct 2x1 full

Projects I want to start:
Father (Cross Stitch a Day calendar) 14ct 2x1 full (various thread types)
Chinese Symbols (patternsonline.com) varoius cts, 2x1 full
Godspeed (HAED) 25ct 1x1 full
Asian Home restart (patternsonline.com) 16ct? 2x1 full

Projects I'll probably never finish:
Wild Things Birth Record

QS Curl Up With a Good Book - page 1 DONE!

There was a time when I never thought I'd finish this project let alone page 1. It's taken me over a year and a lot of headache but page one is finally done!!!! The confetti stitches are a nightmare. Working with 3 threads instead of 2 was also a nightmare. The end results looks fantastic but I think I'm going to have to wait awhile before this one comes up again in rotation because I need a break. It's done on 22ct Hardanger fabric in 3x1 tent stitches.

Year of the Rat (2) finished

Here's the second one of these done on light blue Aida, 14ct, 2x1 full, as usual. I have one more of these to stitch up and then I'm don with this guy. It was really easy to stitch up except for when I wasn't paying attention. I'm now a full month ahead of schedule so I think I'll take a break for awhile and work on something else.

Calla (HAED) started

This is the floss companion to City of Swords. I also started this one in the bottom left . . . and I'm doing it on 28ct fabric . . . and in 2x1 tent stitches. I like to keep the patterns that share a floss box similar, at least in thread count and stitch style. There was so much grey threads used at first that I was beginning to wonder if the leaves would look green at all. I guess I should have had faith since it is a HAED design and they always work out, even if you don't think so while you're stitching it. Here is what it's suppose to look like:

Here is one page (bottom left) done (the stitching isn't making the fabric wonky, that's just how I layed it out to scan it):

Chinese frame #2

Here is my next frame. The purple paint was much thinner than the browns (same brand) so it didn't give very good coverage in some places. I thought about doing another coat but I'm not trying to be perfect here. I think I should have done the flowers in opposite corners. Maybe for the next one.

Chinese Zodiac frame #1

So I started painting the first frame for my Chinese Zodiac project. I've found that I like painting. It find it just as soothing as cross stitch even though I'm not very good at it. I'm hoping I'll get better in time.

I wanted to create a plaid pattern on this one and I was very proud of myself when I laid the tape down. When I took it off I was disappointed. It looks more like tire tracks than plaid. I'm going to have to rethink which one I match it up with.

Year of the Dragon (2)

Here's my second Year of the Dragon. It was easier to do the second time around than the first one. I'm still undecided on whether I'm going to do the last Dragon on black or probably white. I'm now half way through stitching all of them. I'm also ahead of my planned schedule by 1/2 a month now. I don't know if I'll start the next one right away or take a break because I'm getting a little tired of the 945 for the face and body.

I've also finished painting the first of the frames. That post will come next.

This one was done on 14ct Jade Aida in 2x1 full stitches. And here it is:

Year of the Snake (2) finished

Here's my latest finish. It's the Year of the Snake on Navy. I still have one more of these to do. It was much easier to stitch this second time, not that it was really hard the first time though. According to my list I'm done for the month of April. I planned out 2 a month so I'm ahead of schedule. I could take the rest of the month off from this design . . . or I could start the next one and get even more ahead of schedule.



I've been only working on these while in the office at work. I'd sit at my desk on my breaks and lunch hour to stitch. Unfortunately, lately I've been interrupted a lot so I wasn't getting much done. I decided I would work on them at night while at home. I think that's why I got ahead of schedule. I'm thinking if I worked on them at work and at home at night I could do one a week. At that rate I'll be done with them the week of he 4th of July.

I'm really toying with that idea. On one hand I'd love to get these done sooner rather than later so I have time to plan and paint the frames, etc. Also I would be finally done with them so I could spend my stitching time to work on something just for me. After all that was my plan for this year (to only stitch things for me) since I've spent so much time stitching things for other people. There's so many projects I want to do besides the ones I've already stitched.

On the other hand I might get bored with doing almost the same thing week after week. I might start making a lot of mistakes. Or I might end up putting them away for awhile only to find I'm almost at of time to finish them come Christmas time. I was under the gun last year for the box I painted. And a year before that when I did afghans for everybody. I hate leaving things to the last minute. I never feel like I did my best when I work that way.

Lately I've really had a stitching bug going. There's nothing else I want to do besides stitch. Maybe I should ride that out and work on these projects while I still want to. I've got a small vacation coming up and I know I'll be taking my stitching along and I wonder if I could start and finish one in that trip. Or maybe even finish 2. We'll see.

City of Swords - started

As reward for finishing my Mother project I decided I was going to start some other projects just for me. When I kit up a project I try to find another one with a similar color palette and combine the threads. I picked City of Swords (by Ciro Marchetti) and Calla to kit up together. They are both HAED designs. I love looking at the box of threads because the colors are so pretty.

Here is what City of Swords is suppose to look like:


I'm stitching it up on 28ct antique white evenweave in 2x1 tent stitches. Usually you start at the top left corner of the pattern but for these two I decided I wanted to be different. I started on the bottom left. The pages are smaller but it gives me a great sense of success to say I've already finish one page. Besides, starting at the bottom left seems more naturally to me than the top. I don't know why.

So, since the pages are smaller this is my completed page progress so far. Just two colors, but it's a start:

Iris restart

I started this pattern many moon ago but didn't like the coverage (2x1 tent on 22ct Oslo fabric) so I decided to rip it out and start over. Unfortunately I ripped the fabric, not once but twice in the process. I gave up and put the chart away. But I never forgot because it was always a nagging presence in the back of my mind. So I decided to take it out and restart it and hopefully have a better time with it.

This is what it should look like when done:


I am doing it 2x1 tent stitches on 28ct khaki evenweave. It's the first project I started on 28ct and I probably should have picked a lighter colored fabric to make it easier to see the holes. The coverage is much better but I think I'm going to have to get use to the size of the holes before things start moving along smoothly. I've started 2 other projects on 28ct so that'll help.

Here is what I've done so far:

Mother FINISHED!

This is a project I started 3 years ago and I've finally finished. Part of the delay was because I didn't plan everything out before hand. After I stitched it for awhile I had to start and think everything through to make sure I got it the way I wanted it. Then my sister stitched a similar design and gave to my mom for xmas one year. I got dishearten and put it away for a long time.

And to top all that off I wanted to do this in all kinds of different threads. Some were harder to work with than others. The tan is linen threads and I thought it was wonderful to work with; no problems. The red is silk/rayon and boy is that thread springy. That was a little hard to control but I love how it looks. The green is regular DMC cotton. I tried to use a perle cotton but it was too thick and you can't divide it. The blue is a variegated thread that I like but you have to think ahead of how you're going to stitch an area to make sure it looks right. The silver is metallic and it's awful to stitch with. Even using a thread tamer it's almost unbearable. The magenta is a light effect thread. It's not as bad as the metallic but I still had to use some beeswax to keep it under control.

The fabric is from silkweavers.com and it's Sundown 14ct Aida. It's done in 2x1 full stitches. There's one I want to do for Father but I've got so many other projects on my plate that I'm not making any guarantees that I'll have it done this year.

Year of the Dog

So here's my Year of the Dog. It's done on 14ct tan Aida 2x1 full stitches. I have to do two of these but the second one is for me so it will be last. By then I might be sick of these designs so I might not do it all. We'll see.