Opinions?

So, after fooling myself for a long time, I finally admitted that one of the floss colors on Mary Wigham just didn't show up well enough on the brown fabric.  Most people I showed it to said it was fine, no problem, they could see it.

For some reason, I had just never showed it to my father, and Da doesn't mind sharing his opinion - which was, 'why didn't you stitch something in that hole?'  'That hole' being where the small motif in the suspect color was.  He didn't see the bigger motif at all.  He's got good eyesight, so - away I went, a frogging!

I'm not sure of the new color though - I was limited in my choices because the best-looking ones were too close to some other floss color, and I don't own the full range of DMC without digging into my kitted-up HAEDs, which is not happening!  The original is a light shade, but none of the light shades I chose looked right.  I finally went with a darker shade, instead.

Here's the picture - the dark olive green, small motif, at the top, between the coral and the light green, is the one that has been restitched.  The basket with flowers motif that you can barely see is in the original color.

So - does the color look alright?  It took forever to take out that little boooger! I'm not looking forward to doing it again, but if I have to, I will.  I'm saving the basket of flowers for much later!

My Brother's Afghan

I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this afghan, and I'm too lazy to go find the pattern book.

Anyway, this is the one my brother chose last year for Christmas.  I finished it except for weaving in the ends, but he had to leave early because their baby got a really bad ear infection.  Instead of mailing it, I waited until my parents went down for a visit and sent it along.

Since he has it now, I can show pics!

The colors were soooooooooooo pretty!  It's on a king-sized bed here, but it's hard to see.  It went over about two-thirds of it.

I like this pattern - you may see it again!

February IHSW

I worked on Lovers!

Before:

After:

If I hadn't decided on a nap yesterday,  I would have finished off all the black on this page.  Oh, well.  I have finished off her face, ear and neck now, just have a wee bit of confetti in his hand to finish all the skin on this page.  Now to get to that flower in her hair!

Halfway, Times Two

My lovely new cross stitch patterns have not arrived - I think they will take a while, from Canada! - so I've been working at my current cross stitch of a fella.  My goal for Wu Fei this month is 1000 stitches; I made it a little over halfway today.

So I got out 'Love' and did the third row - so it's technically halfway, too!

Really, though, the next three rows are a lot bigger so maybe I shouldn't be happy just yet! lol!

So Excited!!!

I'm about to throw my rotation into a total mess, because these are being shipped to me from Canada!  I've wanted them forever and as soon as I get them kitted up (they are charts only) I'm going to HAVE to start them!

Charles



and Thomas



Aren't they handsome?  :D :D :D  Maybe I can restrain myself to starting just ONE of them - but I kinda doubt it!

Very Appropriate

Yesterday was Valentine's Day - and we had 12 inches of snow!  I was being good and sticking to my rotation, but I decided to take a leeeeetle break and I worked on something else for part of the day:

I stitched the second row of 'Love'!



Just because it was Valentine's Day - and because it's cold and dreary and despite how dark it looks in the pic, this is very bright and cheerful 'candy' red and pink.

And for the snow - I worked on 'The Cold Snowman'!



Finished off his hat and the first needleful of white thread.  I'll probably take some time today to finish his face, at least.  Both of these were January starts.

Now back to the rotation!

Some Nice Bright Flowers

I've had a nice time stitching this basket of flowers!



Because outside, it looks like this:



Please don't mind the paint-stained ruler, it was the only one I could find!  This was on my steps - It was deeper out in the yard, but I wasn't about to venture out there!

The February Turtle-Trot Pictures

I came home and conked out in bed - nearly forgot this post!

1. Yarr

January - NEW START

February:


March Goal - 1000 stitches

2. WuFei

January:


February:  Close up - I got more done than the last picture.


Wide shot:


March Goal - 1000 stitches

3. Lovers

January:


February:


March Goal - work on during IHSW

4. Princess Palace

January:


February:


March Goal - stitch the basket outside of this room and start backstitching this room

5. Princess of Sun

January: NEW START

February:


March Goal - work my way across the top, even if it's only one row

6. Funky Cat

January: NEW START

February:


March Goal - more paw prints

7. Mary Wigham

January:


February:  motif done!


And wide shot!


March Goal - I'm going to give up and frog those pale brown motifs and redo them in another color.  I'm just fooling myself that they show up better in real life. XP

8. A Whole Lotta Latte

January:


February:


March Goal - finish the top cup

9. Frederick the Literate

January: (unfortunately, I didn't take a full wide shot)


February: (I can barely tell that bird is backstitched, but he is! Except for his legs)


March Goal - finish backstitching the top shelf and start the bottom shelf

10. Angel of Grace

January:

February:


March Goal - finish a ribbon

A Cat for a Cat

I'm late with the final projects!  I worked all day, every day the last few days so they're a bit skimpy!

I mentioned last year that I started HAEDs Guardian Angel - this lovely thing:

I left it at my Mother's house and it sort of disappeared - no one could find it but last week it turned up shoved in the corner of a closet - I had it in a cloth project bag and someone in my family (no one will 'fess up!*) spilled coffee or chocolate milk or something all down the side.  Then they hid it.  The floss is fine because it was in a ziploc bag, and the pattern was only a few pages of a working copy, but the fabric is very, very stained so I will be washing and dyeing it!  I had barely started it, so I wasn't all that upset.

So anyway, since I can't find Snowing, I thought I would restart it and maybe it could take Snowing's place.  So here's project #29 - Guardian Angel restarted:

Then I thought of a better replacement - poor, poor, poor neglected Frederick!  I will be putting him in the Turtle-Trot, and if Snowing turns up before he's finished, I'll put it back in.  If not, Guardian Angel will go in.  Here's Fred's progress, for project #30!

I backstitched the rest of 'Puss in Boots', then 'The Three Mouseketeers' (it's a little flashburned), 'Nine Lives', and most of the bird.  Only his legs to go!  I also started the gold/metallic blend stitches on the big green book.  The top shelf is very close to done!

And finally, project #31!  I started 'Mai' by Dimensions

I don't know how well the tan half stitches showed up, but they are there!  Not easy to stitch without my lamp (I started her at work)  She's destined for my bedroom wall, someday!  I have lots of Oriental-style kits and I want a few of them done soon!  Maybe I can get her done this year.




* - I kinda think it was a young member of the family, who thought they'd get yelled at.