November 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 trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.

The letters T, U, V and W were designated for November.  I went for 4 letters as I don't have anything for U or V so it still worked out as two letters for the weekend.

First up was Stitch It Picasso's TEMPERATURE SAL for 2023.

It started here:

And finished here:

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

I was doing quite well with that one until May 2023 when I put it to one side to do my Just Nanathon and never really got going on it again.  I do have all the temperatures recorded so it will be on my list for next year to try finish off.

Next up was another TEMPERATURE project, the tree from The Steady THREAD.   That went from here:

To here:

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

On Sunday I went for Papillon Around the WORLD in 80 Stitches, another older project which has stalled.

That went from here:

To here:

stitched on 28 count white evenweave

I think I might try get all the borders done next year and then think about the fill-ins.  It's very satisfying to complete each shape.  There are 32 altogether and I have stitched 13 of them.  If I stitch one or two a month then that would get them all done next year.

Next month will be X, Y and Z.  I have one project which will cover both X and Y and nothing for Z.  So hopefully 2 days stitching on one project will see some good progress.  Despite it being the weekend before Christmas!!

Finally the next IHSW will be 20th - 22nd December 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.

June Smalls

     

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

Because I am focusing on my BAPs again, I won't have so many smalls this year but I do have a couple of series with small components so I will share them this month.

The first is the Blackwork Tarot by Circle Cross.  I have finished Water:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

and made a start on the first Zodiac sign - Gemini:

My next collection of tiny items is the Potion Bottle Temperature SAL from Stitch It Picasso.  

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

I completed all of April and made a start on May.  Apart from those four Green days, the rest alternated between Lime and Yellow so it should be quicker now.

June was more varied between Lime, Yellow, Orange, Red and Dark Red (for just one very hot day).

Finally, a very small Small.  This is one of the motifs for the Discworld Objectiva I started last year.  My friend Nicole thought it would be fun to choose one motif to represent each of the Discworld Books.  I helped by model stitching them so she could see how each one turned out before committing to the final design.

Sourcery is the fifth book but one that caused her a lot of issues getting the right look to the carpet.  She moved on to some of the easy books and then came back to it later.  Which is why I hadn't stitched it before.  Here's the final design she was happy with:

stitched on 28 count white evenweave

June WIPocalypse Half Year Goals

         

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 "23 in '23" for this year.  This month I stitched on all the started WIPs for my Longest Day Marathon and had 1 finish and 1 part finish.

Here are the ones I stitched on outside the Marathon which has it's own post:

2. Kustom Krafts Little Snapdragon

4. Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas

5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

8. CCN Halloween Village Flower Shop

13. Mani di Donna Halloween Stitching Basket

15. Nicole B Hicks Discworld Objectiva

17. Stitch It Picasso Temperature SAL

18. Circle Cross Blackwork Tarot

Gemini

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and "23 in '23"

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too:

June - Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Pretty good so far, the secret is achievable goals!  

My two ways to track goals are my 23 in '23 list and my WIPGO Board. Out of my 23 in '23 I have 5 finishes so far, 1 goal met, 1 very close to a finish and 6 projects which haven't been started mostly because they are either time sensitive or dependent on other projects being finished first.

My WIPGO Board is looking good. The only time-sensitive piece is the Marathon itself which went in 13, the "free" square.

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.

As usual, I worked on Friday so the only thing that got stitched that day was my Temperature Chart from Stitch It Picasso.  I am way behind with this, still stitching April!

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

On Saturday morning I got out my Art Nouveau Tarot from Circle Cross which you saw in my TUSAL post.

The plan for the afternoon was to stitch Little Snapdragon which had unfortunately gone missing.  The storage tube was there, but there was nothing inside.  Rather than waste too much stitching time hunting for it, I decided to pull out the other WIPGO project for this month which is Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas.

Here is Day 5:

stitched on 32 count grey linen

The next IHSW will be 21st - 23rd 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.

But before then, I have my annual Longest Day Marathon on Wednesday 21st June.  This is the day where I attempt to stitch on all my WIPs and remind myself how much I still like each one.  Here is the collection ready for the Big Day:

Finally, the good news is that I did find Little Snapdragon!  The fabric had fallen on the coffee table and gone down behind some books so I couldn't see it until I moved everything off the table and then the table itself!  All's well that ends well.

April Smalls

   

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

Because I am focusing on my BAPs again, I won't have so many smalls this year but I do have a couple of series with small components so I will share them this month.

The first is the Blackwork Tarot by Circle Cross.  I have finished Fire:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

My next collection of tiny items is the Potion Bottle Temperature SAL from Stitch It Picasso.  

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

I am so far behind with this, I've not even finished March and April is almost over.  All those unfinished bottles except one will be Lime so hopefully they will be quicker to stitch.

The next series is from Amanda Butler in Cross Stitcher magazine.  I started and finished the Cardiff House in April:

stitched on 28 pale grey evenweave

Finally, it's nearly time for my annual Just Nan-athon! I used this to take part in Maynia in previous years. I stitch on a different JN Small each day.

Here are last year's projects:

March Smalls

  

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

Because I am focusing on my BAPs again, I won't have so many smalls this year but I do have a couple of series with small components so I will share them this month.

The first is the Blackwork Tarot by Circle Cross.  I am still working on Fire:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

My next collection of tiny items is the Potion Bottle Temperature SAL from Stitch It Picasso.  

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

I popped it into the evening slot for a couple of days to try catch up a bit.

The next series is from Amanda Butler in Cross Stitcher magazine.  I completed the London Houses at the start of the month:

And moved straight onto the Belfast Houses and got them done in 27 days:

stitched on 28 pale grey evenweave

Finally, following on from Noteworthy Needle's exciting release from last month, here's another moveable seasonal design, released for the Jingle Ball last year:

On her Facebook page she has a video showing how this works and the reason I am excited is because I have made one of these before.  They are not difficult at all so I just need to find some nice seasonal designs and I can make one.

Facebook Noteworthy Needle

Here's the one I made.  The big difference is the I cut the corners off which makes it easier to turn.  You can see the wear on the corners in the above video already because they are square.

March WIPocalypse Stitching Supplies

      

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 "23 in '23" for this year.  This month I stitched on 7 of them and had 1 finish.

5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

11. Nora Corbett Taurus

13. Mani di Donna Halloween Stitching Basket

17. Stitch it Picasso Temperature SAL

18. Circle Cross Blackwork Tarot

20. Amanda Butler London Houses - Finish

21. Amanda Butler Belfast Houses 

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and "23 in '23"

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

March - Tell us about your favourite places to buy stitching supplies

I use a mixture of online stores trying to use places run by enthusiasts.  Lakeside Needlecraft is one of the first places I look, Kate is very helpful.   If she hasn't got what I need then Peakside or Patchwork Rabbit are the next ports of call.  For hand-dyed fabrics, it's Sparklies or Chromatic Alchemy.  There is a small needlework shop about 10 miles away who supplies me with the latest Just Nan designs.

Two places I will never shop - Hobbycraft and Amazon.

Of course Etsy is fabulous for PDFs from international designers too.

March 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.

As usual, I worked on Friday so the only thing that got stitched that day was my Amanda Butler Belfast Houses project, with evening stitching it now looks like this:

stitched on 28 count grey evenweave

On Saturday morning I put some more stitches into the Fire Element from Circle Cross:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweaver

And then did my final day on Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow for March:

stitched over one on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

On Sunday morning, I added some more bottles to my Temperature SAL from Stitch It Picasso:

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

In the afternoon I had a new start!  The WIPGO Board chose this one for me.  Nora Corbett's Taurus, stitched on Taurus from Sparklies!

stitched on 32 count Taurus Murano from Sparklies

Finally the next IHSW will be 21st - 23rd April 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.