Stashy Saturday

I don't remember whose blog I saw this on - if anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit? - but there was a post about having 'Stashy Saturday' posts where you show off your crafting goodies.

Sounded like fun to me!

Here's one of the HAEDs I have on layaway:

'Filling the Lamp Oil'.  It's in the Art of the Antiquities part of the site, I don't know the artist yet.  I'm thinking it will say on the pattern when I get it.

Here's the stitch preview.  He looks a lot like my grandfather, minus the muttonchops, and my grandmother has a lamp like that, and I just love the whole picture.

And here's one of the Bent Creek patterns I have - I plan to stitch this one this year, I hope.  It's called 'Eek!' I had to borrow the picture from their site, my own is too faded to see the picture.

So there's my first Stashy Saturday post - let me know if you decide to play along so I can check out your posts!!!  Next Saturday I'll add some other crafts.

Mini-Rings Afghan Update

Finished with my 'assignment' for the week - rounds 15-19.  White, black, and then three purple.

The blog with the CAL is HERE.  So much fun!!!

Please pardon the loose threads - I've been lazy and have yet to weave in one single end.  I might make that part of this week's work on this pretty thing... I'm thinking it needs some red, soon.  Maybe next, maybe not.

Thank You, Paranoia...

So, when I was getting ready to start stitching the Snappers set, I counted and measured and all, and thought, wow, that's a lot of fabric at the top.  Even though it wasn't, actually.  I know they say leave 6 inches all around, but my framer says she doesn't need nearly that much and I'm trying to be frugal here, lol!

So I started to stitch where I should have and felt this funny bit of paranoia that maybe my count was off, because I was changing the single long row to a three by three set, remember?  And math was my worst subject at school.  So I decided to just move it all up some and felt much better, even if I would end up with a lot of empty fabric at the bottom.

Today I got it out and instantly realized that I am stupid.  SO STUPID! Twelve months is a three by four set, not a three by three!  My whole height count was off!!!

I thought I was going to have to start over, but I thought I'd check.  Just to see.

So out came the handy-dandy purple fabric marker and -

No restart for me!  THANK YOU, PARANOIA!!!

Progress and a Bent Creek Start

Today is the day we post progress on the SAL 'A New Stitchy Start', so I thought I would show my progress here, too.

For me, I got a lot done - I'm very close to my 1,000 stitch January goal on 'Unspoken'.

Still pretty much invisible, though :D

I have also finished my January goal on 'Great Light'.  The shade of blue is finished.  Only had to frog twice!

And now I will tell you guys a little story - many, many years ago (about nine years, I think - maybe less?  thereabouts, anyway) I was still mostly stitching kits and just learning that there was a whole world of patterns out there.  My then-local library had a 'swap' day - bring a box of books or magazines, take a box (or just donate them and take nothing).  I had a lot of old paperbacks that had been given to me that I had no interest in, so I decided to take them down.

While there, I poked around the other donations, not intending to take anything.  One box, that honestly at first glance looked like trash, had a wrinkled crochet magazine sticking out of it.  Further investigation showed that someone had thrown a half-full cup of ice into the box and I started to just say 'ewwww...' and leave it, then I saw that there were charts in it, too.  So I took a chance and put it in my car trunk and went home to spread them out on linoleum to dry.

I thought the patterns were cute, but at the time had no idea how to kit them up; I understood what the DMC color codes meant, but the specialty floss names were a complete mystery and I thought you had to have them both.  Dried them out and put them away and it took a few years before I realized that I had treasure in that stack of wrinkly, spotted charts in the bottom drawer of a file cabinet.

Dozens, and I mean dozens, of Bent Creek charts.  In no shape at all to sell or even give away, but I can see the charts well enough to stitch them.  I've done 'One Bird Having Some Friends Over', 'Mom', 'Dad', and 'Sheep for Thee' from that box of 'trash'.  All of those are on my finished page, I think, if you want a look!

My little story is waaaaay too long, lol!  Anyway - I've wanted to do the monthly Snappers from 2003 for a while, but I didn't like the long row they are shown in.  Then I saw a picture recently where someone was stitching them in three rows of three and it was so cute!  And I couldn't resist, so:

Started!  Way late, but started!  The pic is dark 'cause it's night; the colors are a bit brighter than this. I'm using the DMC conversions, because I'm trying to be more frugal, stitching 2 over 1 on 18 count Antique White.  I'm going to try to do a block a month, though since I only started last night I might have to finish January's block in February. Also I have to tweak the border, which will be interesting! Anyone happen to know if there's a Bent Creek SAL out there I can join?

Did You Hear That Scream...?!

It was my future paydays!

HAED is having a 50% off sale, so I put a couple of patterns on layaway.

A couple.

I swear, just a couple!!!

Like, ten?  That's a couple, right?  Couple of fives is still a couple!

I only bought one outright.

'Tournee du Chat Noir' by Leslie Anne Ivory

Couldn't resist!  And when my sibling sees it, they will DEMAND it be done and hanging in their house immediately.

At which point I will laugh.  A lot.

I haven't bought a new HAED since I got 'Unspoken' with some gift money, so my self-control was shot.  Even though I have more HAEDs than I could ever possibly stitch, I went clicking 'add to cart' like a madwoman.

Don't regret it, though.  Not one little bit.

CAL Update

Thanks for the comment on my cherub!  Seems more people think he looks sleepy than bored - I can see that!  :D

Here's my Mini-Rings CAL update!

Rows 11-14 were the assignment - hot pink again, spring green for two rows, and then white.

I still don't have the first square for the Moogly afghan done - I can only do so many quadruple triple crochets before I toss it aside.  I can't keep them neat.

28

Number twenty-eight of my Thirty Tiny Stockings kit:

One incredibly bored Cherub XD

A Little Late, but Not Forgotten - IHSW

I have some new readers! Yay! *insert frantic 'hello' waving here*

So I will say, as before, that I work all weekend so IHSW, sadly, is not a lot of free time for me.

I did get progress, though, and on two projects, though one was only 'cause I was waiting and had it in my purse.

I finished the cross stitches and started the back stitching on my Cherub Stocking:

And the main IHSW project, which is QS Lovers, went from here:

To here:

I also did a bit of crocheting but I'm not ready to show it yet - I did round 11 of the Magic Rings CAL and I decided to go ahead and do the Moogly Afghan CAL because I had never done the stitch technique used in the first square and wanted to give it a shot.  It's not too hard, though it looks it, but I'm not finished with the square yet.

So that will be a post for later this week :D  Hope you all had fun this weekend; I'm off to check other IHSW posts now!

Apparently, I forget EVERYTHING...

Here's my update for the Mini Rings of Change CAL that should have been posted yesterday:

It's IHSW, and I'm working on Lovers, so I'll post an update Monday.

Unless, of course, I forget...

YOTA! I forgot YOTA!!!

I forgot about YOTA - It fell on the same day as the Turtle Trot this year XD

This will be my YOTA project - click the link to find out more about the SAL - I haven't started working on her yet because my ordered floss hasn't come in.  'Flower of the East', an adopted project that a very nice lady had given up on stitching because she didn't 'speak' to her anymore.  I love her and she's over 2/3rds done, so bonus!  She came as seen, no floss or sparklies.

Hopefully I'll get my missing colors in time to update her next month!

The First Turtle Trot Post

After a lot of planning and re-planning, here's my Turtle-Trot choices and what I have done on them so far!  Most I have not gotten to as of yet.

1. Chang Wufei - a pattern I made in PC Stitch.  I've not touched him yet; he's the same as he was last April:

2. Frederick the Literate - a Dimensions kit; he still only needs his backstitching.  Haven't touched him since April, either.

3. Snowing - a pattern from the old Witch Stitch and Bits site.  I'm not sure if this kitty is on the new Witchykitt site or not.  He looks just like my darling Audio except Audio had a white tip to his tail.  I plan to adjust when I reach his tail so he's a match.  I haven't touched him in almost two years.  (Last year, I had misplaced him.)

4. Yarr - a HAED.  Started last January, and another victim of my cross-stitch hiatus that began in April '14.

5. Princess Palace - a kit by Bothy Threads.  Yet another April victim, and not touched since then.

6.  Mary Wigham - this used to be a freebie pattern.  I don't know where to get it now.  Also not stitched on since April.  My goal for this month is to pull out the invisible motif and restitch it.

7. 30 Tiny Christmas Stockings - a Bucilla kit.  You can see the ones I've stitched if you click on my 'Christmas' tag.  This one I did work on some - I finished off one stocking and started another!  I also finished one last year that I don't think was ever posted. So I have three left to go, or two and a half, I guess.

Last years:

Lately:

Newly started:

8. QS Lovers - this was a HAED Freebie SAL piece, you can't buy it like this.  Also, the artist retired and you can't buy the big version, either.  I will be working on this one during the IHSW weekend so it has had no love yet.

9. I was going to work on a little kit called 'Oops' but I think I'm going to have to condense my SALs a bit due to longer hours at work.  So 'Unspoken' will be number 9.  I started it January 1st.  'Oops' will replace the Stockings kit when I finish those off.  He's had a bit more than this done, but I'm saving it for the SAL post at the end of the month.

10. Great Light - I have a bunch of these 5x7 Christmas kits - I used to finish one a year so that's the goal for this one.  I'm stitching in one color at a time.  I did the grey stitching a while back, I've worked on the first shade of blue this month.  It's not done yet.

I took a crooked, dark picture.  I need to quit waiting until the last minute to take pictures!!!

And that's that for the Turtle Trot!  Next month will be some progress, I hope!

Oops!

Here's my update for the Mini-Rings CAL except I made a mistake!

I read the instructions for this week, then had about three days before I was able to pick it up and work on it - I was supposed to stitch rounds 6 & 7, but my brain thought I was supposed to do 6-9.

So now I'm ahead.

THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE!!!  Usually, I am WAAAAY behind!

The yellow is a pretty lemon yellow - the brightness of the green and orange make it look dull.

Tomorrow is the first Turtle Trot post, and I've barely done anything!  Off to cross stitch!

New Things

Here is my Jan 1st start of 'Unspoken' - I got a little done, mostly white, winter white, pale grey, and medium pale grey.  AKA - invisible!

There are about three rows of forty stitches that I can't even see and I know they are there!

This is the first 5 rounds of the Mini-Ring afghan.  I decided to do it all in brights and jewels, with the odd row of black to set it off.  The green is Red Heart in 'Glow-Worm' and the flash made it even more neon than it actually is!

I had a finish yesterday, too, but I plan to show it off tomorrow.  I had to work all day and half the evening today and I need better light!

Happy New Year!

Hope you all have a great one!  My family is not really superstitious, but we do joke that what we do on New Year's Day is what we'll do all year long, so!  Here's what I want to do today:

1. Start 'Unspoken'

2. Make cupcakes (done!)

3. Sleep in (did that)

4. Crochet

5. Finish a project.

And here's some yearly goals, just for the fun of it!

Make Good Progress on These:

UNSPOKEN

MARY WIGHAM

CUT-THRU PRINCESS PALACE

SNOWING

YARR

LOVERS

CHANG WUFEI

Finish these:

FREDERICK THE LITERATE

OOPS

MINI RINGS OF MAGIC

30 TINY CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS (4 Left!)

MY OLDEST WIP

Start AND Finish These:

TREE OF LOVE

RANGER HOOD (Requested in all Black)

My Friend has a new Grand Daughter!

I must make these for her!

I'm changing this to look like OPTIMUS PRIME

I LOVE PLANTS VS ZOMBIES!!!

CAT LESSONS FOR PEOPLE!

I forgot the name of this one. Something Stegosaurus.

NOSFERATU!

FOREST HOOD

LIZZIE BORDEN!

MAX THE BULLDOG

So, there's my yearly plans!  There will probably be a few more cross stitch starts pop up, too, but mostly I plan to get some of my barely-started WIPs out and give them some love!