June IHSW

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am attempting International Hermit and Blackwork.  I do love blackwork and have a couple of projects I want to try fit in to my rotation without being on the WIPGO Board.

My main blackwork piece is the Halloween Blackwork from The Steady Thread.  It went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count tea-dyed linen

Always exciting when the border meets up!

This is the part I worked on over the weekend:

I'm a little bit behind with my Temperature Chart but here is the most recent photo, lots of lovely oranges and a bit of red to be added:

stitched on 14 count Aida banding

Finally the next IHSW will be 18th - 20th July so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

Gifted Gorgeousness June Link-Up Post

     

Welcome to the June Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

None of my daytime pieces have a gifted component so I can't share them today, but fortunately my evening piece does.  This is, as ever, Annie Beez's 12 Days of Christmas:

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan evenweave

This one isn't a gifted piece but I'll be stitching it on the 13th of every month for Dark Thirteen so you'll see this every GG post too.

This is Halloween Tiny Town from Heart in Hand Designs

stitched on 32 count Tobacco Belfast linen

Finally it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "June Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally Fully Finishing Fun for June

  

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

Following a total wash out last month, I was determined to FFO something this month.  By now I should have 5 of my 12 Days Stockings completed but I only had Days 1 and 2. 

I usually stitch these as my evening project but left them during May in favour of my annual Just Nanathon.  So Day 5 was finished early this month and FFO'd already:

I started Day 6 as soon as I'd done with Day 5 and here they are both are together:

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan evenweave

 

Finally, I will attempt to catch up with Days 3 and 4 later this month and maybe have 3 to show you in July?

June Plans

This year I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  The order I stitch them in is going to be determined by the WIPGO Board.  Jessie-Marie calls two numbers each month and those will be the projects I stitch that month. 

In May the numbers 5 and 19 were called.  These related to Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll and Nora Corbett's Zodiac Girl.

Here's where Fairy Idyll finished, I stitched all her wing and some more of the rabbit:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

My fourth Zodiac Girl will be Scorpio:

stitched on 32 count Scorpio evenweave from Sparklies

For June, the numbers 21 and 23 were called.  These relate to Cottage Garden Year in the Woods and Cricket Collection's Summer.

I actually finished The Swans earlier this year so I have decided to work on Summer until it is done and then decide if I want to start another design in the Year in the Woods series or use the time for something else.  Summer will take more than 14 days to complete.

Here's where I am after 5 days, I have stitched the second M and the E this month:

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweaver

It's so difficult to get a good photo of the fabric which is a lovely greeny-yellow in real life.

Finally, my evening projects for June will be the Annie Beez 12 Days of Christmas Stockings.

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan

 

Just Nanathon 2025

Each May since 2018 I have attempted my Just Nan-athon where I stitch a different Just Nan small each evening. If I finished one the previous year I start a new one but this year I decided not to do that and just continue stitching the current one for 2 or 3 days. So there is a total of 25 designs this year.

May Smalls

  

         

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Rachel

For May, I am taking a break from my 12 Days of Christmas Stockings and stitching my Just Nanathon.  Started in 2018, I stitch a different Just Nan small each evening. 

Here are the designs from Day 19 to Day 29:

Some of them are getting closer to a finish!

May TUSAL

        

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Fairy Idyll from Mirabilia and I've completed the wing now!

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Finally, here's the latest days on my Temperature Chart.  Lots of orange and yellow for May and even a touch of red on 1st May!

May WIPocalypse WIP or UFO?

          

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  This month I stitched on 2 of them, one new start and one focus project but both from Nora Corbett.

First up was the fourth in the Zodiac Girls series (for me) from Nora Corbett.  This is Scorpio: 

stitched on 32 count Scorpio Murano from Sparklies

You can see how many beads she is going to have from some of the gaps!

The second project is Fairy Idyll by Mirabilia. 

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

I decided to focus on her wings this month and stitch them 1 thread over 2 to give a more translucent look to them.

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

May - How do you personally distinguish between a Work in Progress (WIP) and an Unfinished Object (UFO)?

For me, a WIP is a project that I will stitch on at least once a year during my Longest Day Marathon even if I don't pick it up at any other time.  A UFO is a project I have got tired of and no longer want on my list.   I might stitch it one day, I might not.  I don't often UFO projects these days as I am more careful about what I choose to stitch.

Out of all the WIPs I have at the moment, the one most likely to be UFO'd is the cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine that I started on a whim in January:

stitched on 14 count Aida

I thought it would be a quick stitch but it's taking too long and there are other things I'd rather stitch.  But it is cute and there's only the sky to do now which is 3 or 4 shades of blue and purple.  Then the backstitch.

May IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am attempting International Hermit and Blackwork.  I do love blackwork and have a couple of projects I want to try fit in to my rotation without being on the WIPGO Board.

My main blackwork piece is the Halloween Blackwork from The Steady Thread.  It went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count tea-dyed linen

This is the part I worked on over the weekend:

I spent two days on the Blackwork and one on the lovely Scorpio from Nora Corbett.  You can really see how her hair resembles the scorpion's tail now:

stitched on 32 count Scorpio Murano from Sparklies

In the evenings I continued with my Just Nanathon and stitched three more designs:

Finally the next IHSW will be 20th - 22nd June so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.