A finish and a bit of progress

Butterfly - August 23rd

It's hard to believe but another week has passed.

I was able to get a bit of stitching done which makes me feel pretty good.  I was busy with a lot of other tings as well so it meant that I didn't have a lot of time to stitch.

Butterfly - August 27th

The butterfly was one project that got the attention this week because I really wanted to have it finished before the end of the month. I decided that this was going to be the piece that I worked on until it was finished.  Of course, when I sat down on Thursday to work on the butterfly I was able to actually finish it in one evenings which was wonderful.  I am happy that I was able to get it finished so now I will see what project gets started next. I do  have a couple of projects that i would like to work on so now to figure out which one is going to be put on a frame next and added to my work in progress.

Butterfly biscornu - August 30th

Besides having the big projects on the go I decided that I needed some smaller projects that would be quick to finish. I worked on getting a bunch of them ready to stitch so that I don't have to look for floss, fabric or a pattern when I am in the mood to just stitch on something quick. The result of this kitting of projects means I have either 7 or 8 small projects that I can work on and get finished quickly or at least I hope they are quick to work on.

The first project I decided to work on is a Butterfly biscornu that I saw on the internet.  Of course, I loved the idea of a butterfly biscornu but I couldn't locate the pattern no matter what I tried.  Well considering this is a piece just for myself I sat down and looked at the picture on the screen and tried to figure out the pattern.  I don't have the exact pattern like the biscornu I saw on the blog but at least I have one that I am enjoying working on.

So besides working on the butterfly projects this week I actually got a bit more done on the shawl that I started a couple of weeks ago.  I was making pretty good progress on it until Saturday when I found a colour of yarn that I liked more and some different yarn.  Now I have two shawls on the go and hopefully will be able to get one of them done quickly as I would like to be wearing one of them by October.

Tonight I hope to be able to find a little bit of time to stitch and hopefully will be able to do it most evenings but it will really depend on the heat.  The forecast is for another week of hot and humid evenings so that makes stitching very difficult but I will just have to wait and see how I do.

As for now it is time to try and get some work completed so that I can get home and hopefully enjoy some stitching time.

Slow stitching progress

Polar Bear - August 9th

Over the last week I have been able to do a bit of work on three projects which has felt really good.  I haven't been able to spend a lot of time on any of the projects but at least I have been able to make a bit of progress on all of them which makes me very happy.

Polar Bear - August 16th

Polar Bear Face On of course is going to take a long time to actually see some really good progress but at least I was able to spend a bit more time stitching on it and got a bit more of the water completed.  The water is going to take forever to do as it is all over the piece but at least I have a bit done.  I need to add a few more blues to it and then maybe it will start looking more life something.

Butterfly - August 9th

For this project I decided that I wanted a scroll frame because of the size of it.  I got the scroll bars on Wednesday so now to just sit and tack the piece of fabric onto them and then I will be able to see the entire width of the piece at once.  I am still trying to work on one page at a time but have to admit that the blue at the top is onto a second page of the pattern.  Now to work on getting more of the first page done and I may feel better about this project.

Celtic Butterfly is coming along and I was able to spend a bit more time on it than any of the other projects.  I like this version of the design but still like the blue one the best.  The piece is taking longer to do because of the overdyed silk and maybe that is what is getting to me.  I liked the other one because it stitched up so much quicker. 

Butterfly - August 16th

A few people have told me how much they like the butterfly and that is making me feel good about this design.  I wasn't sure at first how it was going to turn out but now I am happy with it.

The other piece that did get a bit of attention this week was Schlock with Gun.  I didn't spend a lot of time on this piece but at least I made a bit of dent in it.  I am hoping to be able to find some more stitching time this week where I can focus on a project for a while and see some more good progress.

Schlock with gun - August 9th

Of course having a lot of pieces on the go means that no one project really gets a lot of time but that is OK with me.  I would like to get the butterfly finished before the end of the month so I guess I better try and focus on it just a bit more.

Schlock with gun - August 16th

Now besides the cross-stitching I did last week I decided on the weekend to start crocheting a shawl for myself. The shawl is very simple and something that I can work on while sitting outside in the heat.  The weather has also been one of the reasons why I haven't done a lot of stitching.  I just get comfortable with the frames and floss in this heat so my cross-stitching has been put down.  I hope that it gets just a little bit cooler soon so that I can get to stitching and enjoying it.

I have missed finding the time each evening to stitch so this week I am going to try a little bit harder to find at least an hour an evening where I can lose myself in a project.  I know that I have a few projects that I am working on for work so that is where my days are spent .

This week I hope to see a bit more progress on my cross-stitching so now to get the work done so that I can think about stitching this evening.

A bit of stitching

Celtic Butterfly - Aug 3rd

 This past week I was able to find a little bit of time to stitch but didn't get as much done as I would have liked.

I was able to work on the Celtic Butterfly and am seeing some changes in it which is making me happy.  I hope to be able to work on this again this week so that I can see more of the wings start to appear.  The colours are so nice and I am enjoying how they are turning out so far.

Celtic Butterfly - Aug 9th

This pattern has been nice to work on because I can work on it a little bit at a time but still some changes on it after each stitching time.

Schlock with Gun - Aug 3rd

Besides working on the butterfly I have been able to put a few stitching in Schlock with Gun as it is also one that I can work on a bit at a time.  Now the only things about this one is I can work longer without seeing much of a change in the piece but I know that I am setting parts of it done which is nice.

This week I am not sure what I am going to work on but I know that just being able to find some time to stitch without all the other distractions would be really nice. I thought last week was going to be a good stitching week only for too many things to get in the way and prevent me from really stitching most of the week.

The weekend was also busy so I didn't get much stitching in either so now to see how this week goes.  I do know that I have stitch night at Gitta's this week so that is one evening where I do some stitching.  I hope to be able to make some good progress on at least one of the pieces that I have on the go.

Schlock with Gun - Aug 9th

Now the good thing about this weekend was I picked up some floss for another project that  I want to work on.  I am not going to start this new piece until I have finished either Schlock with Gun or Erasmus.  I would like to get both of these out of the way before I start another piece. 

Now, today I hope to find a bit of stitching time as just seeing a bit of progress on something would be really nice. My stitching is sitting and waiting and I know that spending a little while relaxing and stitching will help me regain a focus for work so that might be what I do part of today. 

As for now I have a few more things that I need to do so off to get them all done.

Projects on the go

Schlock with Gun - July 26th

This last week I decided that I was going to try and work on a couple of projects instead of just one and that is what I did.

Schlock with Gun - Aug 3rd

Schlock with Gun got a bit of attention during the week because it is something that is easy to pick up and work on when I don't have lots of time to stitch.  Of course, I didn't get lots done and part of that was due to the heat but also I had other things bouncing around in my mind that were distractions.

Besides working on Schlock with Gun this week, I figured it was time to try and start the second version of the Celtic butterfly so that is what I did. This version of the butterfly is using an overdyed silk thread and I am looking forward to spending a bit more time on this project so that I can see it really come to life.  I am working on this butterfly a lot differently than the first one as I want to take full advantage of the colour changes in the thread. I am stitching the piece as if I was drawing it so it is taking a bit more focus.

Celtic butterfly - August 3rd

Well, the weekend came and after not getting much stitching done I decided it was time to pick up something different and see how much I could get done in part of a day.  Yesterday was a holiday, so I figured it was a good day to try and focus on a project for a little bit. The project that I picked up meant another start but that is fine because this project is going to take some time to finish. I have wanted to stitch a picture of a polar bear so I am using a picture that I took and have now converted it into a cross-stitch.  The final piece will be 18"x12" so I have a lot of work ahead of me to get this one done.  The polar bear is a piece that I am hoping to be able to hang in my office so that is what I am thinking about.

Polar Bear face on - August 3

This week I hope to be able to find a couple of evenings where I can lose myself in my stitching.  Not sure what project will get the attention but I know that at least one of them will be moving forward before the end of the week.

I know that I have a lot of projects on the go but each of them provides me with a different type of stitching and that is what I enjoy.

Today is a busy day work wise for me so it is time that i focus on the work so that maybe I will be able to find a little bit of time this evening to pick up a project and work on it.

Another finish

Celtic butterfly - July 19th

Finally I can say that the Celtic Butterfly is finished as I completed it last night.

I am happy with how it turned out and I cannot wait to start the next one.  I know I have other projects on the go but this design seems to be calling to me very loudly right now. The design was a simple design and maybe that is what I loved about it as it was a quicker to work up design.

Celtic Butterfly - July 21st

Last night I only had a very little bit of stitching left to do and of course as soon as I got home I had to sit down and get it finished.  it felt great being able to see the whole design completed as with it on the q-snap I hadn't seen it all coming together.

Now to try and get some work done today so that maybe this evening I can put the next piece of fabric onto a q-snap and start working on the next butterfly.

I am hoping to wait until the weekend to actually start the next butterfly but will see if that really happens.

Progress on butterfly

Celtic butterfly - July 12th

The Celtic Butterfly is finally starting to look more like a butterfly than just a bunch of lines.

This past week I was able to find a bit of time to sit and stitch and now am seeing that it won't be much longer before the butterfly is completed.  I am loving how it looks and have already bought some floss and another piece of fabric to restitch the design.

This project has been my focus for the last couple of weeks and it will be until I finish it which I hope is at some point this week.  I have been enjoying working on this piece and look forward to seeing what it looks like once the final stitch is in it.  I have had to move the piece of fabric so I am not seeing the entire butterfly right now.

Celtic Butterfly - July 19th

Just seeing that I am getting close to finishing this piece if making me very happy.  I know that I have other projects on the go and I should put some effort into them before I even think about working on the next butterfly.

The next butterfly will be on a light grey piece of fabric and done with an overdyed silk.  Yes, this floss is overdyed but the next one has more contrast and that is what I am looking forward to seeing. 

This week once I finish my butterfly I am going to try and stitch on at least one other of the projects I have on the go before even really thinking of putting the grey fabric onto the q-snap.  Well, this is currently my plan but we will see what really happens once this butterfly is finished.

I am happy with how it is turning out and look forward to hearing other comments once it is finished.

Now it is time for me to get some work done so that I can enjoy some stitching time this evening.

Finally stitching

Celtic Butterfly - July 5th

This past week I finally found a little bit of time to sit and stitch which was wonderful.

Part of the reason for the stitching as on Wednesday it was stitch night at Gitta's so that meant that I was able to sit and focus on stitching for about three hours which was good.  After going that stitching and seeing some progress on the butterfly it made me want to work on it some more.

Celtic Butterfly - July 8th

The middle picture is where it was after stitch night.  Of course once I got into the mood to stitch I just couldn't seem to think of any other project other than this one. 

Celtic Butterfly - July 12th

Yesterday the weather was pretty warm so instead of trying to stitch sitting in the living room, I grabbed my stitching and took it out onto the balcony where it was a little cooler than sitting in the apartment.  It also meant that I got into the mood to stitch and that is what I did for another three or four hours.  It is nice to see that I am finally making some progress on this piece because it is taking longer than I had hoped.  I think part of the reason it is taking longer is I am stitching the butterfly on 25count evenweave over one stitch.

This week I am hoping to be able to make some more progress on this piece as I am now over half way through the butterfly and am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once it is completed. If it is hot out like the forecast is for at least today I think once I have finished the work that I need to do I will take my stitching and go and sit on the balcony again.

Work is now needing to be done so I am going to focus on that for a while and then will see what I can accomplish this evening.