September started with a holiday weekend, back to school, then lots of rain. Not bad stitchy weather though! I started my rotation with We Do Disney, not a WIPocalypse, piece, blogged here.
Trick or Treat Fairy was my September finish goal, and she got 3 days. I had 3 spools of Kreinik to work with, and 6 colors of beads, some of which were stashed (leftovers). Also some DMC to backstitch and fill in ninja stitches. Sadly, I did not finish, because I ran out of the purple beads.
Boo Club got 2 days to finish the Brew line. It was a lot of fun with the witchy details.
Fall Fairy was another planned focus for the month. I basically tried to stitch as much as I could on the 4th and final page. A stitchathon weekend, complete with stitchy meet up, at the local library, helped. Not that I stitched so much at the meetup, but it definitely got me in the mood to stitch. Previous progress:
After 5 day rotation:
I'm over halfway through the last page. The empty spaces are for areas that are done in half cross, which I do after completing the regular cross stitch. Some of the colors are the same, so it can be confusing. I'm quite pleased with the progress.
Spooky House had a decent rotation after last month's hiatus. Previous:
After 4 days:
So I worked on the 3rd page, the bottom left. I actually finished most of it with the regular DMC. I think there's still some grass remaining to be stitched at the bottom, with half cross as well. I also stitched a few lengths of PTB for the window. It looks patchy because this pattern makes extensive use of blended floss colors. That part will go a little faster though, since I'm not counting so much, just filling in.
Water Goddess got some love. I don't know what it is with this project, it's taking longer than expected. Perhaps I'm a little burnt out on the genre (she's the last of the my elemental goddesses). Previous:
After 4 days:
I worked on the 3rd page (upper left), mostly. The moon is stitched with 3 shades of Kreinik (actually, I'm using PTB for the main color). Her hair is done in about 3 shades of DMC. The page is mostly done, except for another dragonfly near the top of moon, a smidgen of skin, and a flower in her hair, which go across the page break. Also, it needs backstitch. The zodiac symbols will be backstitched on the moon and there is some detail to add for the hair and dragonflies. On the 4th page (upper right), I stitched a bit more of the bodice.
The second stithathon week went to Winnie the Pooh. Previous:
After 2 days:
I managed about 1500 stitches. Page 3 is now finished with some blending filament and the extensive petit point section, Tigger and Piglet in a wheelbarrow. Piglet is practically microscopic. That's why I posted a close up pic, you won't really see him otherwise. Seriously, this section was crazy and I almost punctured a hole in my finger, from pushing the needle though the fabric. 1x1 on 28 ct monoco gets very thick, especially with confetti. It was only like 530 stitches but it took a long time. The next day (with a sore finger), I only managed 1 more column, more Winnie the Pooh and the beginning of Christopher Robin. I'm on the last page now but this page has a lot of detail, several more over 1 sections. I plan to slow down on this piece for the rest of the year, devote more time to Fall Fairy instead.
I spent 3 days with my Mill Hill Christmas village. It sucked me in and demanded lots of stitchy hours. Needlework Shop is almost done, except for 1 bead color which I'm missing. Since progress was stymied, I decided to work on the Bakery, which is the last building for this year. Compared to the Needlework shop, the Bakery was an easy stitch (less detail, more solidly stitched so less counting, etc). It's almost ready for beading and I should be able to finish next month.
Last but not least, the Mini Mandala SAL got 1 day. I stitched the mandala 3rd down on the far right.
It's good to be 3/4 finished with this SAL, though I might stitch a small border, we'll see. I'm enjoying this project so much I think it may be time to start Save the Stitches, in January. I've had that project on the back burner for a long time, and it's huge, but I think I'm finally ready.
Discussion Topic: How do you keep your stitching stash organized? I have a few pattern boxes and they are arranged topically (Mirabilia, Christmas, Seasonal, Fantasy, Flora/Fauna, Architecture, etc). Fabrics are in another box, sorted by color. My kreiniks are arranged numerically in shotgun shell cases. Beads are organized numberically in Darice tiny bead storage containers (though I need another one). I maintain a full set of DMC, in Stitchbows, sorted numerally in two binders. And I have a huge stitching spreadsheet where I inventory everything, track my WIPs, framing plans, time spent on each project, etc. Besides that, my stash is not very well organized. My magazine collection is a huge mess. Specialty threads are half heartedly sorted in bags and when I go looking for something in particular, I don't often find it. Recently I had to go to Michaels and buy some Nymo for the treasure attachment on Enchanted Mermaid because I could not find my Nymo; I know I had two spools (white & black). Oh well...
My planned focus projects for October are Fall Fairy, Spooky House, & Water Goddess. One of those pieces, TBD, will get a double rotation. Water Goddess is closest to a finish, and she is one of my older WIPs, so we'll see.