May IHSW: Three Squares

Hey Blog Buddies,

The May International Hermit and Stitch Weekend has come and gone and I am happy to say that I stitched three squares in my Rainforest Revisited project (my goal was at least two):

This square is a bit on the dark side

and not too contrasty--

not one of my favorites, I must admit.

(It's actually a bit brighter in this photo than in real life.)

It also took me quite awhile to stitch

because there were a lot of

over-one and over-two stitches.

This is a really fun design--

although the color in the photo is off.

What appears to be beige is a lot more gold IRL.

And the pinks are a bit more orange.

This little cutie stitched up really quickly

because a lot of it was over four.

One more square

and I'll be at the halfway point

in the project!

It was quite crazy in Chicago yesterday,

and today promises to be more of the same.

Needless to say, we didn't go into the city

let alone anywhere near the Loop or McCormick Place!

It was a really good weekend

to hermit and stitch!!

Hope your weekend setting

was a bit more serene.

Thanks for visiting!

And thanks for all of your kind comments, too!

Think Summer

Hey Blog Buddies,

I started (and finished!) a little summer design this week.  It was a nice change of pace doing something small and quick.  It's called Think Summer by Lizzie Kate:

For those of you familiar with this design,

I substituted the big hook

right in front of the fish

with some bubbles

and my initials and date.

I've been looking forward to the

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend

that starts today and ends Sunday.

My plan is to see how much I can get done

on Rainforest Revisited.

For those of you not familiar with IHSW,

go here to find out all about it.

There's still time to sign up!

Happy hermitting, everyone!

Thanks for visiting!

CT13 -- Done!

Hey Blog Buddies,

I'm very excited that CT13 by Alessandra Adelaide is actually finished!  At the end of its turn in the rotation, it seemed so close to being done that I went for it.  All it took was three extra days.

This was a big project for me (207 x 168 stiches).  I know it's nothing compared to the HAED projects that some of you are doing.  I really don't think I would have the patience to do those, but I admire all the ones that I see.

The pattern suggested stitching the entire piece in one color, but I decided to add the green and gold, and I'm happy with that decision.

Here are a few close-up shots:

I used the following Gloriana silks:

Pionsettia for the tree;

Holiday Green for the pot;

and Lacquered Gold combined with

Kreinik gold blending filament for the star.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

WIPocalypse 2012 - May Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

This past month my WIPocalypse rotation just got kicked to the curb!  It was a combination of my trip to Fargo, ND, for the Nordic Needle Retreat and some obligation stitching.  Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.  But I did find a little time in the past three days to work on CT 13.  I guess DH must be getting a little tired of the swirly red tree, because when it reappeared on Wednesday he said:  "Haven't you finished that yet??"

Here's where I left off last month.

Here's where I am as of today.

We had a bit of lopsided three growth!

Isn't it weird what different lighting

will do to the color?

The top photo is more representative

of the floss color.

I also have a little bonus finish to show you!

I'm including it here just because.

This is a model for a Ukrainian whitework workshop

that's being offered by my Guild in September.

I think the design is cute as a button!

And the workshop will eventually be

opened up to the public,

so stay tuned.

That's it for this full moon.

Happy stitching...

...and thanks for visiting!