Year of the Dragon (3) - - A Happy Accident?

So I've stitched the last of my Dragons (thankfully) and with this one I couldn't decide if what turned out was a happy accident or a terrible disaster.  I had stitched all the flesh including the legs before I stitched the body.  I just wanted to be done with that color because I'm getting tired of it (7 more to go Whoo hoo!).  I did the pink belly part and those confetti stitches, but I decided to do the confetti color in the surrounding area before I did the bigger block of color. 

Unfortunately I must have gotten interrupted between looking at the pattern, deciding what to do next and pulling the corresponding color.  What I pulled was the color for the big section . . . which I ended up using for the confetti stitches.  I didn't realized my mistake until I finished and went to grab the color of the bigger section and realized that was the color I had just used. 

So . . . the orange main color should be small confetti stitches around the lower body, the muzzle outlines and around the eyes in the headdress.  The dark red/coral color should have been the main body color (which I did in orange) instead of the single confetti stitches.  Once I made the mistake in the lower half I had to leave myself a note on the pattern to switch them up on the headdress.  You can go look at a previous one to compare.

On one hand I think it looks great.  I think it gives more definition to the headdress but the pink belly next to an orange body (which should be dark coral) looks a little off.  I have a couple other characters that are going to the same family group so I've decided to change the colors up a little bit so everyone's not the same and for those it will be easy.  I have 2 dragons going to my sister and niece but I couldn't figure out how to change the colors without it being a disaster.  So maybe I got lucky.  I wasn't going to mess with the Snake's colors either but now maybe I can work something out.  What do you think?

Year of the Sheep(3) finished!

Here's my next Chinese Zodiac finish.  It's the third Year of the Sheep and I still have one more to do.  This one was done on Platinum 14ct Aida (2x1 full) and I don't remember the brand.  I'm not sure I like it.  It feels very thin, almost like paper.  It feels like it will tear at the slightest tug; even though it doesn't.  I love the color Platinum so I'd use this color again for other projects but I'll have to find out what brand this is so I avoid it in the future.

Year of the Rooster

Here's my next Chinese Zodiac finish.  It's the Year of the Rooster, 14ct green Aida, 2x1 full.  This one was very easy to do and I think my stitching is getting neater after each one.  Not that it was messy to begin with, but there's just more uniformity to how they look.  I'm hoping my orange paint for the frame will match this one and not clash.  Otherwise I guess I'll have to use the yellow paint.

Pirate - Page 3 COMPLETE!

So here is my latest progress on Pirate.  Page 3 is now complete.  And I've met my yearly goal for this project that I set for myself on the HAED BB.  Yeah me!  Tent stitching is so fast, especially with large blocks of one color.  So far the confetti stitching has been manageable but we'll see how things get when I get into the thick of things.  After working on a couple of 28ct projects this 25ct seems large and easy to see.

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.