A busy, busy February

Already into February... time just gets away.  I've been stitching away.  I picked up my February project on the 1st of the month, intending to get back to Safari to finish page 2.  Here's the progress as of the end of January 31:  

Not far to go.  I had planned to pick it up and finish it off maybe that first weekend in February, just to at least be done with page 2, and I've been enjoying my February project so much, it's hard to put that one down.  I may need to sprout another set of arms is all lol..

February's project is the Noah's Ark sampler by Teresa Wentzler.  Many of her designs have blended colors, but not this one, thankfully -- I think that would've done me in.  Here's the progress at the start of the month when I picked it up and the progress as of Sunday evening, February 5.

Currently, the ark is finished and I've made it to the lower left corner of the picture above the alphabet there.  The squares of the border will each have animals in them, stitched 1 over 1.  My daughter loves looking at the animals and naming them (she's 4), so I will probably let her dictate which animals to do first, second, etc., when it gets to that point.

It will likely be another couple weeks before making another posting as I'm off for vacation for two weeks as of Monday.  I was undecided as to which to take with me and decided on both!

When I return, I hope to delve into the next chapter of the RR, the Christmas tree theme, and March will have me starting another larger project from scratch, a chart called The Edge of Night from Heaven and Earth Designs.  Happy Stitching to all!

Safari, Take 2

As of my last post plus a week, I finished page 1... the giraffes were a touch darker than I thought they'd be, but I liked it.  No, I loved it.  Two weeks of work, and I was ready to begin page 2.  Off I went to use my trusty washable marking pencil to mark the fabric... but wait... this can't be right.  It's 6 pages wide, right?  Or was it 5?  Eyeing the fabric, I prayed it was 5... and then I stumbled into every stitcher's nightmare.  My fabric wasn't wide enough. 

I didn't yell.  I didn't holler.  I didn't even cry.  I seriously considered chocolate.  Instead, I felt disappointed in myself for a couple of hours and then dug out the 25-count evenweave I had set aside for my project I'll be starting in March.... and started over.  This time around, I began with the confetti toward the bottom and finished my giraffes first.  I couldn't bear the thought of being without their company again longer than I needed to be.  Last night marked 8 days, and I beat my first time by 6 days.

I'm still not sure how I made such a mistake.  I am hanging onto the first page 1 to turn it into a smaller design some day by adding the feet of the giraffes and the head of the other one there.  I have never stitched on 25-count before, and at first I thought, "Boy, are those squares small!"  I found I like it better than the first one.  It's being stitched with 1 over 1.  Full speed ahead with page 2.

In other stitchy-related news, my Round Robin group has agreed on mailing the first weekend of February, so soon I'll be working on the next project in line for that, a Christmas tree!  Another pattern provided to me by the owner, and so gorgeous!  I can't wait to get started.  It looks like it will be a relative quick stitch.

February is fast approaching, and with it, the Noah's Ark sampler by Theresa Wentzler.  I'll be picking that up again on the 1st and then deciding how to do a rotation between that and Safari.

A Month Already??

My how time flies when you're having fun!  I didn't realize this much time has passed since my last posting!  Right off the bat, lets post some updated pictures: 


Main WIP ~ Footprints

 To the left is a sort of updated picture of my main current project, Footprints.  I've done slightly more since this picture was taken.  It's mostly filled in down to almost the lowest point there is the teal/turquoise/greenish color now.

I've also gotten a jump start on a couple other projects, laying basic "frame work" or borders around edges to prepare for the madness to take place in January... and then there was a change of plans.  A very good friend of mine decided that the 15 in 2012 was going to be a little too wild, so she proposed a different idea, and I agreed with her and fell into step with her idea.  Instead of 15 started the first 15 days of January, we've decided to do 12 for 2012.  We will start a new project or pick up a WIP the first day of January and that's the only thing we work on that month.  On February 1, we start a new project or pick up the next WIP and then we can work on either that one or January's during February and so on...  I still likely won't stand a chance of finishing all 12, but I will stand a chance finishing the smaller large ones.  Naturally, I can't make up my mind what to do when, but at this point the plan is to start my first Mystic Stitch, Safari, on January 1, and that will give me plenty to do all month long!  I've also added an HAED (Heaven and Earth Designs) called The Edge of Night.  This will be such fun and done with some very special friends.

First mailing date for the Round Robin is December 1 or around then!  The next project I'll have is the theme of fairies.  Looking forward to that as I don't recall ever having done a fairy.

That's all I've got going on for now!  Happy stitching!

Almost to another finish...

Closing in on another finish... at long last.  This picture was as of last night.  I was able to do a little work on it today, so currently, what there was to do on the pathway is finished as well as filling in most of the left side and some yellow along the edge of the house on the right.  I still have a bit of green and the detailing to do.  There seems to be a ton of French knots in this, so I'm not looking forward to those :S

Today was my friend/coworker's baby shower, so she finally received Baby Monkers and loved it.  I'm so glad... I wasn't completely thrilled with the frame job I did on it, but she was happy, and that's what counts the absolute mostest.... her due date is November 8, but she and her boyfriend are getting a place as of October 1 and setting up the nursery immediately.  Should look wonderful amongst her many other monkey-themed items!

On another note, my stash groweth... Three words:  Mystic Stitch sale.  After looking for a day and a half off and on, I determined the six I couldn't bare to go on without and purchased the patterns in the B3G3F deal... SO excited to get those.  My husband teased me about what I would do in 2034 when I only have 100 or so left that I'm planning to do lol.... could be a worse habit/hobby/addiction!  I'll have to add those to my official To-Do Niche list eventually.

Until next time.... happy stitching to all!