The Progress of Gracie

Yep, still a bad blogger :D

I started to try and post all the progress pictures I have taken of Gracie since the last post, but it got crazy really fast!  I have decided to save them all and make a slideshow with them at the end.  Or some kind of video.

Anyhoo - here is Gracie the last time I posted about her!

And here is Gracie NOW!!!

I have started on the roses that edge the bottom of her skirt, then it's only the ruffle and the rest of the metallics to go!  Woo hoo!!!

I'm a Really Bad Blogger

At least, since early September, I am a bad blogger.  Nothing!  Not one post.  Bad me.

I've been stitching though, and I'll show you what it's been in the next few days.  I have a smaller finish and I've made GREAT BIG PROGRESS on Gracie :D

But here's the bit for today's post - I have finished page one of Unspoken!

Last time I showed it:

September's Progress:

And now October's:

So the next page has some, hmm... soft-focus tree branches?  And I think the start of his hair!  Lots more confetti than this one (though this one had more than I thought, especially those last two columns) but hopefully with Flosstube to watch it won't take too long :D

Two More Rotation Turns

On August 25th, I picked up my Bent Creek Snappers to work on.

The project was here last time:

I got 'July Sings' done - the birds are supposed to be in a variegated blue floss, but I'm using the DMC conversion.  I didn't want them to be all the same color, though, so I used three shades of blue from the same color family, antique blue.  The two on either side look pretty much the same in the picture, but there's an obvious difference in real life.  They have black french knot eyes that also show up much better in person!

I didn't get much further - it was a busy time.  Only a little of 'August Rings', finishing up here:

This one will be turning up again soon.  I'm enjoying it, but at the same time, I'm just ready for it to be done.  I know, it has a big ol' hoop mark, but this one is definitely going to need a bath, anyway.

On August 30th, I picked up Gracie.  She did look like this:

I got one ribbon finished:

Then I got a lot more of her pink under-skirt done.  She finished up here:

With a more appropriate needle minder, lol!!!  (The one in the second picture was 'Dracula'!)

A Pun, in Stages

For my BIL's Christmas present, I have stitched a pun!

Here it is, in stages.

Can you guess what it says?

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Silly puns make me smile :D :D :D  and my BIL really likes them.  This pattern came from nerdylittlestitcher on etsy.  I have several more of her patterns and I will be doing another for my brother's present.

This one didn't take me all five days; two of the days, I did not stitch but slept instead XD

This is also kind of a double-present.  I showed it to my sis to make sure BIL would like it and after declaring yes! she said she would also hang it in her vegetable-themed kitchen and requested more of the same.  So yay!

Two Project Updates :D

I've been such a bad blogger, I know!

But I am sticking with my rotation so here you go with two projects - I have another but I will show it tomorrow.

On the tenth, I knew I had some days of double shifts ahead of me even though I was promised no more (the things I do for a bigger paycheck!) and so I chose an easy project that had been riding around in my purse.

It is the first name that I'm doing in the Lego Block alphabet.  Here's where it was on the 10th:

I was worried that since I changed the width of the piece that I might have to fiddle with the border, so I worked over to the right side without finishing the letters.  Then I took my marker and did some counting:

Works out perfect :D  Here's where I finished up on the 14th - close to halfway done.  I would say more than halfway done, but there's a huge amount of backstitching in this, obviously!

Two letters, the border blocks, and a metric ton of backstitch to go!  This is a really fun, easy piece - all bright colors and the pattern is easy to work with and most of the time you barely have to look at it.

On the 15th, I got out my HAED, Unspoken.  Here's where he was last time:

And I finished up those two columns and started the confetti of the next two.  It's only about six colors, but they are scattered and random.  Once I get that done, the fill-in of the Winter White is easy-peasy, mindless stitching.  I'm pretty sure I'll have a page finish when this gets its next turn!

And on the 20th, I started a new project and finished it up today!  I will show it tomorrow :D

Playing Catch Up

I ended up working double shifts again, after I was promised that I wouldn't have to do any more.  So from the 3rd to the 9th, I had very little stitching time.

Which completely sucked.  :C   Bleh.

But I did get a little done, so here we go!

On the 1st, I had picked up a UFO.  I was fooling myself that it was a WIP, but a bit of research showed me I haven't worked on it since 2010, so yup - it's a UFO.

Mirabilia's Archangel:

Which did look like this - and I totally remember why I put him away.  That one-over-one on 32ct skin!

Working on HAEDs made this a little easier - it's still much tinier than my HAED projects but I got his hand done, at least :D

And some scroll.  So yay!  Progress on a very old project!  I didn't do any of his metallic yet because I remember needing Thread Heaven for it and I had to order some.  Let me just say that the colors do not do this project justice - they are beautiful rich greens and blues, not the drab olive and dull blue they look like here.  I'll try better lighting next time.

Then on the 5th I picked my Snappers back up.  I had gotten to here:

And made some joke about only getting the suitcase done next time.  Well, it turned out to not be a joke.  I only got the suitcase done.

Still happy with it, though - it is now halfway, border and all :D  Please pardon the big ol' hoop mark!

And this one was not in my rotation plans but there was one day I was just too tired to work on Archangel's over-one skin and so I picked up my China kit and finished off part one - it is the partially-stitched kit, which is divided into several parts, like so:

And here is part one done (a little flash-burned).  

The words and the first crane.  Part two is the single little crane so it will be finished quick.  I'm really looking forward to getting this done so I can see how well the ink really does wash out!  (Also, I may put a little backstitch in the crane's wing.  The camera flash washes it out a little, but it does lack some definition, in my opinion.)

I Forgot to Post!

Sorry, I have been a bit under the weather for the past little while - I did stitch, although not as much as I had been, and I completely forgot about posting.  Ah, well!

On the 20th I picked up 'Unspoken'.  Here's his before pic:

And his after pic:

I got two columns a little over half done - for some reason I chose to work over twenty stitches instead of in columns of ten.  I dunno why :D

Then on the 25th I picked up 'Acquainted with the Night'.

I went from here:

To here:

I really wanted to get the horse's shadow done, too, but I didn't make it.  But I will be stitching the cowboy and horse next turn and I'm really looking forward to it!!!

I picked up another project yesterday but I will say what it was at the end of its rotation turn :D

Happy stitching!