June IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.  

June is L and M.
I didn't have an active project for K so I'm skipping that one!

IHSW also coincided with my Longest Day/Week Marathon so I contrived it that the weekend projects all fitted the L and M letters.

Chatelaine - Gardens of LONDON - before:

After:

MRS Peggotty - Queen of Hearts - before:

After:

Steady Thread - Tree of LIFE - before:

After:

LIVING on the Rainbow - 3D Haunted House - after

MIRABILIA - Fairy Idyll - before:

I continued stitching Fairy Idyll into Monday so here's the final photo of her:

 

And the whole piece so far:

Next month will be N and O.  I don't have an O, so I might skip that and go straight to P.  We shall see!

Finally the next IHSW will be 19th - 21st July so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

May IHSW

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.  

May is I and J.  

My only I project is Fairy Idyll so it was lovely to get her out again, I didn't get much done but every stitch counts!

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

J was perfect for May as this is the month I do my annual Just Nan-athon.  Back in 2018 I started 31 small Just Nans and have stitched each one on the day date until they are finished.  Then I start a new one!  This year I decided not to start any new ones but to keep stitching the previous one if there was a blank day.

Here are the latest Just Nans:

Day 15 - Pansy Mix

Day 16 - Strawberry Heart

Day 17 - Pansy Cameo Ornament

Day 18 - Porcelain Nosegay

Day 19 - Primrose Path

My daytime J was Joan Elliott's Faces SAL.  I stitched some more of the lovely peacock:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

Next month will be K, L and M.  I didn't have a K for this month but may have one by June.  We shall see!

Finally the next IHSW will be 21st - 23rd June so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

March IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.  

March is E and F.  I wasn't working Friday again so I started there with E for English Transitional Sampler from Scarlet Letter.

I went from here:

to here:

Close-up of the part I was stitching:

stitched on 32 count cream linen

This is a huge piece started back in 2012 when I started things with no plan for how they would fit into my rotation or be finished.  It shows.  All that Holbein stitching has to be filled in with satin stitch.  There's another big row to do above it, then some Bargello under the big red outline and some other stuff at the bottom!

Next up on Saturday was E for Elliott - Joan Elliott's Faces SAL, another oldie which I do plan to finish this year.  It's ten years old so it's about time.  It's on my WIPGO Board.

It went from here:

to here:

Close-up of the part I worked on:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

I could have continued with that one on Sunday for F but decided to stitch Fairy - Coffee Cup Fairy from Yiotas X-Stitch.  Here's where that one started:

I added a good chunk of cream to the cup:

stitched on 28 count Monarch evenweave from Sparklies

On Monday I decided to do one more F for Fairy Idyll by Mirabilia.  Here's where she started:

and finished:

This is the section I worked on, adding the yellow to the drapes:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Another very successful IHSW.  It's fun to get a chance to work on some of my older pieces for more than just 30 minutes for the Longest Day Marathon.

Next month I have a choice of 2 projects for G and 3 for H.  Although that might change when my WIPGO numbers are called.  There are a couple of Hs on the list.

As a general rule, I want to choose the oldest project for each letter.

Finally the next IHSW will be 19th - 21st April  so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

December WIPocalypse Annual Review

    

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "23 in '23" for this year.

1. Joan Elliott Faces SAL (1 block) - Goal Met
2. Kustom Krafts Little Snapdragon - Finish
3. Chatelaine Gardens of London - WIP
4. Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas - WIP
5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow - Finish
6. Mirabilia Fairy Idyll  - WIP
7. Hands on Designs Spider Legs - Finish
8. CCN Halloween Village Flower Shop - Finish
9. CCN Halloween Village Art Gallery - Finish
10. CCN Halloween Village Gazebo - Finish
11. Nora Corbett Taurus - Finish
12. Cottage Garden Samplings Year in the Woods The Fox - WIP
13. Mani di Donna Halloween Stitching Basket  - Finish
14. Art Inspirate 31 Potions
15. Nicole B Hicks Discworld Objectiva  - WIP
16. Just Nan Halloween  Smalls x 3 - Finish 
17. Stitch it Picasso Temperature SAL  - WIP
18. Circle Cross Blackwork Tarot  - WIP
19. Amanda Butler Harrogate House - Finish
20. Amanda Butler London Houses - Finish
21. Amanda Butler Belfast Houses - Finish
22. Amanda Butler Cardiff House - Finish
23. Amanda Butler House 6

13 finishes from the list this year (but one was a triple finish) plus one Goal Met.

My big focus piece was Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow which went from here:

to here:

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

The other long-awaited finish was Little Snapdragon which went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Evening Sky Murano from Crafty Kitten

Here are the other BAPs:

Chatelaine Gardens of London

from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Cotton Clouds from Crafty Kitten

I'm still thinking it would be nice to finish this one on it's 10th Anniversary in 2027.

Mirabilia Fairy Idyll

from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas

from here:

to here:

I achieved my goal of another blockson the Joan Elliott Faces SAL.   The 2024 goal is to add the final large block and maybe even finish it.  The large block took 16 days and the previous small block took 7 so it is possible.

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

There were only two projects that didn't get touched.  The Amanda Butler houses were my bath-time projects and they lost out to Turn, Turn, Turn which I didn't even own at the start of the year!  The Art Inspirate Potions lost out to my new love of blackwork, in particular the Circle Cross Art Nouveau Tarot Cards.

Here are the 13 (15) WIPocalypse Finishes - I did have more finishes this year, these are just the ones from my "23 in '23"

I've been putting together my "24 in '24" for next year and also my WIPGO Board which is a FB group where you make a Bingo Board for 25 of your projects.  The Admin calls 2 numbers each month and you reward yourself for completing rows or columns.  And just for added fun, I'm doing the 24:24 in the WIP Warriors group (formerly No New Starts).  For that challenge, I have to keep my WIPs below 24.  I currently have 15 so I can start 9 new things but after that I have to finish something before I start another thing.

Finally, I do hope you are all enjoying this time of year - the planning for the New Year, when everything is possible!  The fun of going through our stash and working out what we would like to start.  The promise to work on those older projects and keep up with the SALs too!

September Stitch from Stash and Pie

 It's time for Pie!

Very strange not to see Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow on there.  But Fairy Idyll takes the place with a fortnight of stitching going from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

After my fortnight on Fairy Idyll, I moved on to another Nora Corbett project - Taurus.  Determined to finish her this month with all her beautiful beads and sparkle:

stitched on 32 count Taurus Murano from Sparklies

The other projects were stitched on work days or days when I couldn't easily bead!

For my Evening Pie there was only one project, Noteworthy Needle Turn, Turn, Turn.

stitched on 32 count Sea Spray linen from Wichelt

I have actually filled in those last dozen stitches but haven't taken another photo!

Now for Stitch from Stash.  I've done really well so far this year. buying very little other than essential supplies and my usual magazines.  But I knew I would be splashing out in September with my Birthday money!  I just didn't realise how much LOL

So, first of all I ordered the Just Nan Owlvira from the LNS in the next town to me.  We went to collect it and it had been delayed so I just got the Tiny Halloween Town chart I'd also ordered as well as a Sweetheart Tree small and some linen offcuts.

Then there was a sale on the Rainbow Hunt X Stitch shop on Etsy so I bought the Wonderland Bottle Collection.

Then I saw a Just Nan chart on eBay followed by a Mirabilia in a Stash Unload group.  

Then Living on the Rainbow had a sale for this adorable tiny Haunted House.

Then my Just Nan order came in so I got Owlvira's Frightful House, Autumn Mix (I have the others in this series already) and the Just Cross Stitch Christmas issue too.

Finally, my subscription to Cross Stitcher was due!  Luckily all of the above was exempt from SFS except for the JCS Christmas magazine so I've not blown the budget there after all.