OhSewCrafty

New WIP: Halloween Happiness

After finishing Royal Holiday, I wanted something completely different from the fairies/laides I've been stitching, so I started Halloween Happiness by Imaginating.  

My floss toss on 32 count "Treasure Trove" opalescent belfast by Silkweaver (old):

 

This is much smaller than the stuff I normally stitch, and fits on a fat eighth of fabric.  It doesn't involve fractional stitches, extensive backstitching, or anything fussy.  It would be nice to finish by Halloween.

Now:

Most of the cross stitching is finished onn the right half of the chart.  It will eventually read "Happy Halloween".  This is a lot of fun to stitch, watching all the little details appear.  The black cat is cute.

At the halfway point ofmy pregnancy, I am thinking of future projects, goals.  Smaller projects will probably be the order of the day; I doubt I'll have much time or attention for large projects with a newborn.  The only thing I really want to stitch next year is a birth announcement for the nursery.  I'd also like work on Emerald or Mediterranean Mermaid, as an addition to the nascent "mermaid gallery" in my master bath.  But for the latter half of my pregnancy, I'll probably slow down on the rotation / WIPocalypse goals and instead concentrate on getting stuff ready for the baby.  There will be creative projects, no doubt about that.  

Stitching HD: Royal Holiday

• Pattern: by Mirabilia
• Materials: 32 count opalescent "Sparking Forest" belfast linen by Silkweaver (old), DMC, Kreinik, Mill Hill as charted
• Size: 12.75" x 18" (she's big!)
• Time to stitch: Almost six years (started December 26, 2007), mostly in UFO status

 My third Mirabilia finish, and a long time coming.  I would definitely be happy dancing if I wasn't laid low with a nasty cold.  Oh well, rest = naps + stitching, so I can't complain too much.

The fabric is a semisolid dark evergreen with opalescent thread woven throughout.  I love the the design on this fabric; I think she pops; but it was rather challenging counting threads on the dark, sparkly fabric, especially without natural light. And then there is the copious stitching with fuzzy Wisper thread, which further obscurred things. The finished effect is rather awesome if I do say so myself, but I am in no hurry to work on another project with similar parameters.  Honestly, the Wisper thread felt like the bane of my existence at times.  It became really annoying working with short (12") lengths when there are such extensive areas of it.  

I only made one little change to the pattern, backstitched the candle flame with 677 rather than 3031 since one ply of dark brown 3031 was invisible on the fabric. Looking at these pics, it appears I forgot to backstitch her lips.  Though I have almost a fulll collection of DMC, there area few holes and 3802 is one.  Oh well, it is such a minor detail, I'll still count her as a HD.  My favorite details of this design are her proud expression, ruby crown, and all the gold sparkly trim.  She is one regal lady!  I am considering framing options for her... thinking a fairly ornate gold frame and probably skipping the mat as she is so big already and there is plenty of color with the dark green fabric background.  

ISHW: September Update

My participation is ISHW was sort of enforced, as my husband has been resting and recovering from a nasty cold, and then Saturday evening, I succombed to the ick.  I had plans on Sunday, but I cancelled in favor of naps and stitching.  This being sick and pregnant is no picnic, I must say.  I would love to take a sick day tomorrow, but I need to at least show up due to a favor for a colleague.  No good deed goes unpunished, eh?  

First I worked on the Autumn Fairy.  I'm so ready to finish this project and it was full steam ahead until I hit a snag.  I worked all the Kreinik and regular backstitch on the bottom half (she is one sparkly fairy!) and started the top.

The pattern calls for 2 spools of Kreinik Very Fine (#4) Braid in 027 (Orange).  So, naturally, I ordered 2 spools.  I used the first one entirely and then went to the second.  Much to my dismay, I found the Kreinik was mislabled.  The color is right, but it's definitely not Very Fine #4 Braid; it's much thicker.  You can see in the pic, the #4 braid above and the mislabled thicker stuff below.  I can't really proceed with the project as some of the backstitch in the head area is around the cross stitched Kreinik, so this project is annoyingly on hold until I can get more.

So, in the meantime, I decided to pick up Royal Holiday.  One good thing came out of this weekend, I finished her!  More on that next time.

2013 WIPocaplypse: September update

I've been working on Autumn Fairy, aiming for a finish by September 30th.  Before:

Now (or actually a few days ago):

 

All the regular cross stitching is finished!  Metallics are now in progress, with backstitching and beads yet to go.  This project became sort of a slog towards the end, it's a beautiful design but perhaps I'm a little tired of the seasonal fairy series after finishing the other 3 in 7.5 months.  Autumn, perhaps more than her sisters, seems to capture all the colors of the rainbow.  Looking at the pattern, I wasn't that enthused with her (oranges and browns are not my faves) but happily the colors are lot more varied.  

I also worked on Royal Holiday.  Before:

Now:

 

All the regular cross stitching is done, all the wisper thread sections are complete, and I'm working on the copious metallics, from the top down (the metallics at the base of her cape are already done).  Excuse the numerous dangling threads, I am moving those to the back and securing as I work down.  And then for the beading, which is extensive.  This lady certainly has a queenly aspect!  I am carrying this project around and working on her with a small hoop whenever I get a spare moment during the day, so much easier to work with natural light.  I do plan to put her back on the scroll bars for the beading, which means working mostly at night, but the beading doesn't require so much counting on the dark fabric, so it won't be bad.

So what's up for the next lunar cycle?  I hope to finish Autumn Fairy and make progress on Royal Holiday.  Also, I'd like to stitch a Halloween pattern, and I'm a bit weary of fairies/ladies so it will be something completely different.