Halfway Through May

Here we are, halfway through May and I'm sure you've been waiting with bated breath on what this month's project will be? I decided to pull out one that definitely needs a little colour since we're heading into spring. This is where it was:

Snowball fight by Gitta

stitched 1 over 1 on 25ct Nimbus evenweave by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC as charted

and with a few days of progress, I've managed to get here:

So much white! I'm aiming to finish this motif, so 1/3 will be complete by the end of the month. 

I also picked up Do Not Meddle again since I could use my larger Qsnap:

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

stitched as charted 1 over 1

on 28ct Monaco

Still adding a thread or two when I can. It's getting there!

And finally, I didn't get the Stormlight Quotes finished, but since I started here:

and managed to get here:

Stormlight Quotes by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct black evenweave with charted threads

A decent amount accomplished for such a busy month. Lot's of B5200 in this one, but several 0s on Pattern Keeper now, so I'm getting there!

The PWHL playoffs are on, which makes it difficult to stitch because I want to watch the games, so I'm knitting a little more. I should have a finish on Wiglaf any day now. 

I hope you've all had a good couple weeks!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

April Catch-Up!

Hello all! Busy month of April up here in the Northeastern US. First the big total solar eclipse on April 8, that was amazing! I've never seen one before, and it was unbelievable. My best photo was this one:

So interesting to watch. It got completely dark in our area and the birds were really loud about a minute before the total eclipse, then became very silent during the eclipse. When the sun came back, it was almost like there was a spotlight that quickly widened to encompass the entire area. 

The week after the eclipse felt like it flew by as well, probably just the feeling of having such an overwhelming experience. Then it was book fair week at our local school and DH is the president of the school and community organization, so he was very busy with that and I was able to volunteer a bit to give him a break. 

Next a friend flew in so we could go to some PWHL games this past weekend! We used to play hockey together in high school and she lives several states away now, so she flew into our area and then we spent a few days in Montreal watching 2 games in Montreal and one in Ottawa! We had great seats for the first and third game, but the second game was at the Bell Centre in Montreal, where the Montreal Canadiens play, and we were all the way up in the back row!

Montreal beat Minnesota 4-3

Toronto beat Montreal 3-2 in overtime

Ottawa beat Minnesota 4-0! (one player had a hat trick)

And we spent one day walking around Montreal a ton, but I won't keep showing photos of that. How about my April project? It's been a while since I've had this one out, but I decided to focus on Stormlight Quotes for this month:

And so far I've made it all the way to here:

Stormlight Quotes by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct black evenweave with charted threads

I started working on this in early April and thought I had some chance of a finish, but seeing as I've had several days of no stitching given all the busyness we've had, that doesn't seem likely. There's lots of B5200 though, so you never know what I might get accomplished. 

I also managed to get both PWHL hats complete for us to wear to our games:

PWHL team hat by Sydney Gerzymisch

in Berroco Ultra Wool in a deep red, green and cream (although it looks white here)

The pom-poms are faux fur that I purchased at a LYS, Must Love Yarn. They have a snap and you have to sew the bottom of the snap onto the hat, then they work. I tried just snapping them in between layers and the pom-pom flew off! It was kind of hilarious. I had to go back and ask at the store and they said "Well, you sew this part on.." and then I got it. 

And since we had to travel a fair bit to get to Montreal, Ottawa and back, I managed a lot on the Wiglaf scarf:

    

Wiglaf scarf by Lizi Lowe

knit with Fiber Me This You and the Stars 80/10/10 MCN 

and Sassy Black Yarns Connecticut Snow 100% baby alpaca

This is over halfway complete. The other side will have the blue pattern repeat. I've hit the widest part of the white and am now slowly decreasing until the blue starts getting wider again. 

I hope you've all had good weeks so far in April and hopefully I'll get a chance to come see all your wonderful crafting!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2024 Plans

Here we are with potentially a good year of stitching, unlike the last couple. I think starting the New Year with positive thoughts, without pressuring yourself is always okay. 

I'd like to try and focus on 12 WIPs next year, one each month. It's okay if I don't finish them, but it would be nice to catch up a little. Also, there are Olympics next year, so I'd like to join Rachel in stitching something unique or special for the Olympics. I'm debating about a new start that I keep stitching on, or find one of the BAPs that really needs some love. It's the Summer Olympics and Paralympics this year as well, July 26-August 11 and then August 28-September 8. Plus I can pick up smalls any time if I need a break from the focus piece. 

Here are my thoughts for 12 focus pieces:

In Harmony by Dimensions

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

Believe in the Magic of Christmas by Durene Jones

Universal Monsters by Witchy Stitcher

Stormlight Archive by Taylor and Cromwell

Quaker Christmas by Lila's Designs

Symphonic Romance by Summer House Stitche Works

Ondulations by Jardin Prive

Happy Christmas by Prairie Schooler

Witch's Gate by Whispered by the Wind

Evening in the Shire by Cute Patterns by Maria

My first project will be to locate all of these, then I can sort out the order for next year. 

These are my thoughts so far, what does your New Year look like stitch-wise?

Happy New Year everyone, and may you never break a needle!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #31

Hello again! It's the final day. For today I've saved one that I technically started before May even began. I finished my April goals, 2K on Animal Kingdom and finished 5 WIPs, some of which had been hanging around for several years. I ended up with a couple days left in April which wouldn't quite be enough to finish anything else, so I stared a new project that I was really excited about. 

If you're not familiar with the Etsy shop Taylor and Cromwell, I've linked to it here for you. They have a lot of really interesting patterns, and many of them are word-related. We all know I have a tendency towards those patterns, and so many of theirs have fandom aspects. There are several Broadway shows, book series, all kinds of things. 

from Six the Musical

from Les Miz

from the Infernal Devices series of books

And, the best part is, they offer custom designs. For only $15USD. That was well worth it for me to request a custom design of one of DH's and my favourite book series, the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. I linked to t he Wikipedia page if you're interested in an epic fantasy series. There are 4 books so far, and each one keeps getting better. 

I chose 10 quotes and the designer even added a special aspect to the chart, the special swords some characters use. I hadn't requested anything like that, but it definitely adds to the project. Here's the mock-up:

I can't even tell you how much I love this! It's just perfect and fits the series so well. The quotes that should be more emphasized are, and the addition of the swords and flag, excellent! So, if you're interested in something similar, look for their custom listing. It's well worth it. My start is here:

Stormlight Archive quotes by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct black Monaco

with DMC as charted

I had a good piece of 28ct black Monaco sitting around that fit the size perfectly. And this works in Pattern Keeper! Even better. I think I had to add the DMC colour numbers, but the chart was easy to enter into the app. 

I think this will be one of those that I keep coming back to until it's finished, like Princess and the Dragon. It will get worked on every month. I doubt I'll have a finish this year, but definitely before the 5th book comes out. He takes a few years between each one, and the 4th one only came out last fall, so I have some time. 

I have no association with Taylor and Cromwell aside from the fact I was really pleased with this and the interaction with the designer. There was one change that had to be made in the design and that was done quickly and without any fuss on their end. They also have a Facebook group where they post some freebie patterns if you want to have a look. 

I hope you're all staying healthy and enjoying your stitching. Stay well and thank you for making it through this month with me. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch