August was a good stitchy month! Not every day included stitchy time, but I stayed on track and knocked out all my goals. My major priorities were Minecraft, which had 5 days and 5,113 stitches. I worked my way across most of the "villain" tier, with minimal backstitching for some of the characters.
Another focus was Christmas Angels, which had 3 days and 3,246 stitches. Despite a major setback, from frogging over a thousand stitches due to a counting error from July, I still stitched quite a lot of the left angel's blue dress.
Autumn Bellpull likewise received a lot of love, 3.5 days and 3,000 stitches. I finished the T block "Thankful" and make a good start on the second U "Uplifting".
Bellatrix had much attention, 5 days and 4,328 stitches. I worked up from her waist, finishing most of the dress, all her hair, the candles. I started her arms and face (but decided to save rest of the skin for last), and worked on the borders and the window frame. Also, I went back to the base of the window, and added the metallics: Kreinik in black, silver, bronze, and berry.
Merry Christmas was loved for 1.5 days and 1,118 stitches. I finished the cross stitch outlines, and started satin stitching, with the leaves. I decided to sub french knots for the individual green stitches in the leaf area. I skipped over the berries, as charted they are 4 cross stitches (in a square) but I'll be doing woven wheels with Waterlilies Flame (I used Threadworx Wine Castle for the letter outlines and exhausted the small skein, I don't love the color or minimal variegation anyway).
Santa's Workshop had a nice chunk of progress, 2,304 stitches over 1.5 days. I worked on the nutcracker toy, the paints, Santa's arm, his shirt, the elf, and finally started Santa's beard and hat. I did a little bit on the elf's face, but I'll be finishing his face together with Santa's face, at the end. Which isn't too far away! the beads needed to finish are on order.
Halloween Memories finally received some love, 2,008 stitches over 1.5 days, after I made a small start in June. I stitched several blocks, and worked on Frankenstein, the ghost, and the butterfly girl. It's almost halfway finished!
As for my larger projects, last but not least is Renaissance Mermaid, with only half a day and 414 beads & backstitching to finish! (FO post with more pics forthcoming)
Now to discuss my beloved ornies, I finished Nutcracker King by Satsuma Street (540 stitches / 1 day), Santa on his way* by Lauren Susan Studios /JCS (825 stitches / 1.5 days), plus a start & finish on Baking Spirits (1,251 stitches / 1 day). Continuing WIP Gingerbread house had 1,000 stitches / 1 day. Plus a new start on Shh Santa with 600 stitches (1 day).
*considerably doctored with Kreinik, beads, petite treasure braid, and french knots.
Question of the month: What is your comfort zone regarding the number of projects to have kitted and in progress at any one time?
To me, kitted & in progress means fabric, working copy of chart, and in my wip box and pattern binder, respectively. I am most comfortable with around 10-12 wips, including ~8 big pieces and a couple ornaments. That number is large enough to offer me variety, yet small enough that I can work on everything frequently (and get timely finishes). Right now, I have 9 wips in progress, including an 2 ornaments. It doesn't feel like enough, so I'll be making a few new starts in September... and maybe one this week.
Now for September goals:
•Merry Christmas, Shh Santa (JCS SAL wildcard) (finish)
•Focus rotations (3k minimum each): Minecraft, Autumn Bellpull, Bellatrix
•Rotations (2k minimum each): Halloween Memories, Santa's Workshop, and Christmas Angels
•Start and finish Making a Brew: Small for Daily 30 Smalls, Start Happy Haunting for Semisane Autumn SAL and stitch 1/3
Happy Stitching
A very productive month for you! Especially that mermaid you finished, it's sooo sparkly!
Bellatrix looks like she's getting close to a finish, but I know there are a lot of stitches in that arch and she got tons of beads...
Posted by: Leonore | September 07, 2023 at 10:33 AM
A very productive month for you! Especially that mermaid you finished, it's sooo sparkly!
Bellatrix looks like she's getting close to a finish, but I know there are a lot of stitches in that arch and she got tons of beads...
Posted by: Leonore | September 07, 2023 at 10:34 AM
Wow, so many beautiful pieces you've been working on! But the frogging I'm sure you could have done without.
Posted by: Astrid | September 08, 2023 at 05:05 PM