Stitching and Unstitching

Castle Sampler, week 11

I almost forgot to post this! I'm on a roll again. I spent Saturday and Sunday working on the sun and moon figures in the lower corners, backstitching and all.

Of course, one difficulty is that I finally managed to get my hands on a few new projects I really want to do--it'll be tempting to go ahead and start them. However, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to rotate through projects like that yet. However, some of them have deadlines, so... :)

Hummingbird Quartet progress

Since I stopped trying to keep this a secret from its intended recipient (it's a Mother's Day gift), I can finally post pictures. I've worked on this one pretty intermittently, but it's a small piece. It's on 22-count Aida, and when it's finished, the design should be about 3 by 5 inches.

Castle Sampler, week 10

It's hard to tell that I did much this week, but if you look at the lower corners you can see the biggest progress. I don't know if my pictures are really capturing the coolness of this piece. It's going to be gorgeous.

Castle Sampler, week 9

I promised an update, and apparently that promise lit a fire under my butt this afternoon. Not only did I rip out the misplaced section, but I restitched it, and then some.

Don't laugh, but NASCAR starts up again next Sunday, so I foresee a lot of cross-stitching happening while I watch the race. (Yes, I know, my redneck is showing.)

It's called 'counted cross-stitch' for a reason

So part of the reason I haven't posted a picture of the Castle Sampler in a few weeks is because I've slowed down on it quite a bit (taking the time to redesign an entire website will drastically cut into your stitching time). But also, partly because of what I discovered last week. The castle section in the center of the design is somewhat of a pain to stitch. And this week (Sunday, maybe?) I discovered that I miscounted. I did an entire roof (probably 100+stitches in multiple colors) exactly one stitch too far to the right. I tried and tried to find a way to work around it, but there isn't one. Unfortunately, I don't have a seam ripper, so until I get one, there's no good way to take out all those stitches.

You'd think by now I'd know how to count. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Frog Prince* came to visit...

A picture tomorrow night, I promise, ripped out stitches or no.

(*Courtesy of the Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board. 'Frogging' is having to rip out misplaced stitches.)

Castle Sampler, week 6

I was feeling a little frustrated until I compared this week's picture to last week's.

A few people have asked me when I have time to cross-stitch so much. The answer is easy. Instead of spending so much of my evenings roaming the internet in search of something to do, I cross-stitch instead. Usually while watching too much TV. You envy mi vida loca, I know you do. Hey, if I've resigned myself to spinsterhood, I may as well go all out with it.

Castle Sampler, week 5

I discovered this weekend that the perfect time to do long stretches of border is while I'm gaming or watching a movie I'm really into. So with 7th Sea yesterday and Werewolf today, I got a fair chunk of border done. Whee!

Castle Sampler, week 4

Section one is completely finished, including the backstitching--which unfortunately didn't show up very well in the picture. I'm doing sections 2 and 3 together, because section 3 is pretty much just border.

I'm thinking of including something in the pictures for scale next time, just so you can get an idea of how huge this thing is.

Castle Sampler, week 3

I can't believe it's only been three weeks, but it has. I just might finish section one by the end of this week! Here's proof!

Castle Sampler, week 2

For those of you keeping up at home, here's what I've done over the past week. I've slowed down a little.

Castle Sampler, week 1

Well, I had so much fun posting updates about my novel word count, I decided to make a weekly update post on my current cross-stitch project too. ;)

The chart is made up of six sections, so I'm doing section 1 first, then moving over to section 2, and so on. The entire design will be about 14" by 15" when I finish.

For you needlecraft folks, I'm stitching over two threads on 28 count linen. Linen is both interesting and a bitch to work with at the same time. Of course, since this is a Teresa Wentzler design, there are a few sections of over one stitching, like the letters.

Angel of Light, finished

You've read about my cross stitching injuries (I seem to have toughened up, by the way. I stitched for hours yesterday with no ill effects), now you can see the final result of my Christmas-y project!

I just realized I forgot to stitch my initials and the date on it, which sucks cause I've already washed and ironed it. Using my grandmother's embroidery hoop (which is probably older than I am) was a lovely, sentimental touch, but as it's metal and very old, it left some rust stains that I couldn't quite wash out. :P Going to stick with wood from now on.

Tomorrow I'll frame it and then it'll be ready to give away as a Christmas present.

(Be warned, there may be a lot of these pictures to come, once I get more done on my new project. I'll filter them if people seem annoyed. ;)

Ow

I seem to have suffered a cross stitch related injury. After years away, I've picked up cross stitching again recently, and I did it so much over the weekend that now my right shoulder and elbow are sore. I've heard of tennis elbow, but cross stitcher's elbow? Jeez.