Updates and a severe case of Startitis

Hey all!

Been awhile since I posted an update! I have not stitched as much as I have liked over the last several weeks, but I do have some progress to show you.

First up is TowMater. He is getting close to done, I have now finished all of the stitching on him, and have started the dreaded back stitching. I also haven't stitched the banner up top yet, I am leaving it until last, as it's all black, and should be an easy stitch.

Lust (HAED) has gotten a bit of love, sorry for the pic, but getting a decent shot of dark colors is hard!

QS Twin Peek (HAED) has come a long way, I am now finished 3/6 pages!

And this weekend I have been working on my BB SAL piece, which I am sooo far behind on! Here is where I am at now, I have done about 500 stitches this weekend; slow going as this piece is sheer confetti!

I am kinda sheepish to say that I have also made not one but two new starts! My rotation went out the window for awhile, but I am now back on track, so here is my progress on my latest additions!

When HAED released this chart, I bought it and started it the same day! I have an obsession with dragons, and even have a full back piece tattoo that looks very similar to this chart, so I had to start it!

Red Dragon:

And here is my progress after 3 rotations:

As a side note, I have to say how much I absolutely love Magic Guide fabric! Makes it so easy as I stitch per column, so much faster when I don't have to grid or count. Plus, the coverage on it is great; I was a little hesitant, but the dark colors look fine on it, and I have been told that it gets even better once the piece is washed.


I also fell in love with another chart designer, Sarah Paine of Paine Free Crafts. She has some fantastic designs, and I plan on many more purchases.
Here is the first chart I bought and started from her, its called Lyssa, Disturb at your own Risk. Dragons and oriental art, what could be better?

My progress after two rotations, hard to see as it is all fairly light colors:

So that's pretty much it on the stitchy front. Things are moving along slowly but surely on the medical front, I am booked in for surgery at the end of this month, so keeping my fingers crossed! Thank you for all your kind words and support, I will keep you posted!

Hugs,
Nikki

Final WIPocalypse, new goals, and lots of pics!

Phew, finally getting around to my last WIPocalypse post for 2012! I kept thinking about posting, then stitching or life called, and it was put off another day! lol

So time for the year in recap, all in all it was a very successful year of stitching for me...I think this was the most I stitched in...well...ever!

First up is Ascendant, here is where she was at the beginning of the year. My goal was to reach 20% for the year.

January:

And now, at 26% and counting!

I am so pleased with how she is turning out...even with all the stash I have bought over the last year, she is still my all time favorite chart, and a real pleasure to work on. Plus, I love sparkles!

Next up is Sadness of an Angel, the bane of my stitching existance. This is a chart my sister picked for herself for me to stitch. I don't know if it is the colors, or just the fact that I don't paticularly like stitching for other people anymore, but I really had to push myself to work on her.

January:

And now, with 45% complete, and 5% shy of my goal:

Even though I didn't meet goal, I am still really happy with how much I completed, since I dislike her so much! lol

I also had 3 kits listed as goals to finish, and here they are, all completed, and have since been delivered to their happy new owners:

Welcome Friends

Baby Hugs

Lightning McQueen

I also started TowMater, the companion piece to Lightning. I came close to a finish on him this year, but got caught up over the holidays. Here he is about 3/4 complete:

Several new starts found their way into my rotation as well. I didn't have any formal goals on any of them, but I did make pretty good progress.

Ghost:

Lust:

Waterfall Dragons:

So the plan for this year...

1. Finish current row on Ascendant. (pages 10-12 left)

2. Get to 60% on Sadness of an Angel. (currently 45%)

3. Finish TowMater.

4. Finish page 2 of Ghost.

5. Finish page 2 of Lust.

6. Finish page 2 of Dragons.

7. Finish the BB SAL piece I picked. (details below) 

8. Try to finish QS Twin Peek. (details below)

I think this will keep me stitching like crazy for this year!

I joined the HAED BB SAL for the first time this year. I picked QS Mystic Garden, since my boyfriend loves tigers, so I would love to finish it and get it framed in time for X-mas this year for him. Here is what it looks like:

And here is my progress after the first few days:

This is officially the most confetti heavy piece I have ever worked on...it will be a challenge to get it finished in time I think!

I am also participating in the NEW Years SAL in one of the FB groups I am in. I chose QS Twin Peek as my first chart to start:

And here is my progress, first page is complete!

This is my first time trying Magic Guide fabby, and I love it! So great to stitch the shoe collection on, since there is a lot of counting as none of the pieces have stitched backgrounds.

Phew, I think that is it for the stitchy front! I tried to keep my goals for this year fairly simple and easy, as I don't know when my surgery is going to be, or how long I will be down for.

 But, I did get a phone call! Thank you everyone for your positive vibes and thoughts; they must have worked, because not 2 days after my last post, I got a call from the surgeons office to book in for my surgical consult. My appointment is this Friday, and I am hoping if all goes well they will get me in ASAP for surgery. I will keep you all posted!

So I think that is all the news that is news; but again, a big thank you to all of your for the positive thoughts and comments recently, and throughout the year. I would have never gotten as much accomplished as I did without your support. *Big hugs all around!*

And as a personal goal, I am commiting myself to posting an update every 3 weeks, so I will talk to you all soon!

Hugs and a Happy New Year,

Nikki

October WIPocalypse in November...and apologies and explanations!

I feel like a bad blogging buddy...over a month since my last post! Be assured I am checking out all of your lovely works, even if I am not posting or commenting...life has gotten a little nuts, but I will leave the personal stuff to last for those who are here for the stitchy bits.

I finally got some mojo going for Sadness, as she was my last goal for the WIPocalypse. I have worked exclusively on her for the last month or so, and I am happy to say I have made lots of progress. Not sure if I will meet goal for the year or not, but even if not, I am thrilled with how much I have accomplished on her this year!

So as a reminder, this is how she looked waaay back in January:

And this is how she looked for the September WIPocalypse update:

And here she is now, with 53460/117600 stitches, or 45% complete!

I am rather pleased with how she is turning out, even with the strange pinkie color. I find if you stand back and look it blends well into the other colors. I think I have exhausted my mojo on this one though, been really craving something a little more colorful, so I think I will pick up Waterfall Dragons for the next few days.

So that's pretty much it for the stitchy front. Doesn't look like a whole lot, but I did get almost 9000 stitches done over the last few weeks.

On the personal front...I am going through some pretty heavy medical stuff. Don't want to go into too many details, but my symptoms have taken a drastic change for the worse over the last several months, and I find I am really struggling to keep up my normal life stuff. It is so hard to try and manage all this while living alone, maintaining a household, and looking after my two furry babies, but I am (barely!) managing to keep my head above water so to speak. My stitching seems to be my only sanity of late, as the medical system here leaves a lot to be desired sometimes in regards to how fast you can get in to see specialists and surgeons.
So as of right now I am in a holding pattern until I get a phone call to go in for a surgical consult. I have all my hopes pinned on getting surgery that will hopefully fix what is going on so I can get back to feeling normal. It's just so frustrating sometimes, when you know what will fix you, it's just getting it done! The only scary thing is that my symptoms have been going on for years, on and off, so I don't know how bad the damage is going to be when they finally put me under the knife and take a look at what's what. So keeping my fingers crossed, and trying to keep my chin up so to speak!

But I do want to thank you all for your lovely comments, and giving me the positive vibes to keep up on my stitching and getting through my days. I will keep you all posted as best as I can with what is going on, and hopefully I will be able to post more often for you all!

Big hugs,

Nikki

Update time and September WIPocalypse

I guess my lateness is getting slightly better, I am only 2 1/2 weeks late for the last WIPocalypse post, lol. Someone needs to tell my life to stop getting in the way of my stitchy time! Without further ado, onto the pics, and I finally took of pic of my new start to tantalize you!

First up, The Ghost, by Rebecca Sinz. Now at 13% complete. Love how the detail is starting to come through...forgive the green leaf in the pic, forgot to move the flower vase!

Next is TowMater, who is slowly but surely coming along...I am hoping (praying!) to have him finished by the end of the year, as that would give me 5 kit finishes for the year, and 5 more things out of my stash!

Sadness has been getting most of the attention lately...she is now up to 35% completion, only 15% more to reach my WIPocalypse goal for her, and finish my last (official) goal for the year.

Finally, as I mentioned in my last post, I just couldn't resist one of the new Matt Stewart charts from HAED. As a reminder, here is what the original artwork looks like:

And here is my (tiny!) start... believe it or not, this is almost 3000 stitches complete, but seeing as the chart has 450 000+ stitches, its just a drop in the bucket! The colours in this chart are fantastic, and I am loving the coverage on the 28 count fabric I chose. Can you tell its the start of a wing?!

So that's my progress since the last time I posted...I was so used to getting so much more time to stitch while I was off work, it doesn't feel like I am getting anything done lately. But.....I am so excited, it's the perfect weekend for IHSW! I am off this Friday to dog sit, as my parents are away, so an extra long stitchy weekend for me! The only thing I don't know is what I am going to work on...any suggestions?

Hugs,
Nikki

Late IHSW update, super late WIPocalypse, and the kitchen sink

Sooo late for everything yet again! I am finally back to work full-time, and it just seems like I don't have time for anything lately...so I will make up for it by showing you my pretty stitchy pics!

First up is my IHSW results. I worked on Tow Mater most of the weekend between cleaning and laundry.

Before IHSW:

After IHSW:

He is looking so good, buck teeth and all! Kinda nice to have something besides a HAED on the go, must easier to see, and far less concentration required, lol.


Now for WIPocalypse...unfortunately, with being back to work, my stitching time has taken a serious hit...but, on the plus side, I got some major mojo going for Sadness, and she was all I have worked on for  the last August WIPocalypse (so much for my rotation!)

Sadness last WIPocalypse:

Sadness now:

Much better pic this time, it really shows all the different shades in this one. I am now up to 30% completion...only 20% more to go to meet my last WIPocalypse goal for this!

 So like I don't have enough WIP's on the go, I bought some more stash I just couldn't resist for HAED Appreciation Week, and it just so happened that the HAED BB SAL this week is new starts, so I figured, hey, it's like getting permission right? Right? So here is the charts I bought!

Winter Soul:



Waterfall Dragons:

So can you guess which one I started? Yup, Waterfall Dragons! I just couldn't resist! This is by far the biggest WIP I have started, so I am gonna need to get some serious stitching in on this one just to show that it looks like something! Plus, I was super excited to try stitching on the new fabby I ordered, but holy cow, stitching on 28 count is small! I thought 25 count was bad...was I ever wrong! But on the plus side, the coverage is amazing, and I need to use slightly less fabby this way, so good trade off I suppose.

I realized today that my OCD is screaming at me...I am out of needles! I am crazy about how I need my WIP's set up, and each one gets pre-threaded needles and a cork-board with all the chart symbols, so that way I don't have to keep unthreading and threading all the time. So, with so many WIP's on the go, I have run out, so I think I may be working on Sadness or Ascendant until my order comes in, as they are the only two that have full boards atm, as I kinda had to 'borrow' so I could start Waterfall Dragons right away. So here is hoping I should have some progress pics soon for you! And I also need to go blog stalk as well, I am so far behind, I'm sorry!

hugs,
Nikki

IHSW results and did I mention stash?

So I didn't get much done for IHSW, so hence the late post. I decided to finally start Lightning McQueen's friend, as for some bizarre reason I wanted to work on something different.

So this is what he will look like when done:

And this is where I got to:

Not too bad for just a weekend of work! But, since I don't have as much stitching to show you as I usually do, I decided to make up for it by showing you my new stash! I went a little crazy during the HAED 50% off stash enhancement at the beginning of the month!

QS Aspidistra



QS Fierce



My Darling



Lirielle



Regal



Stealth



Now I am only $6 shy of the $200 I need for my reward chart...and guess what? There is another sale on! So I will probably have some more stash additions to show you next post, lol. I think I am hopelessly addicted! But on the plus side, I have enough stash now that I will never ever run out of things to stitch, I just need to figure out a way to live long enough to stitch it all.

Hope you all are doing well, I am so behind on blog reading! Off to do some stitching so I have some progress to show you for the next WIPocalypse update!

Hugs,
Nikki

August WIPocalypse Take 1! And pre-IHSW update

Wow, I have been a bad blogger, almost a month since my last update! I will try and make up for it though, as I have lots of progress to show you!

Ascendant-before WIPocalypse:

My goal on this piece was to get to 20% completion, which I met awhile back, so I am just going to carry on with keeping her in the rotation and see how much I can get done this year.

Ascendant-August WIPocalypse:

Top row is complete, and pages 7-8 are done with a partial on page 9 so far. I am getting so excited to get further into this row, more pretty wings, and more of her face!

The only goal I have left for WIPocalypse that is not complete...reach 50% on Sadness of an Angel.

Sadness before WIPocalypse:

Sadness, August WIPocalypse:

I am currently around 27% on this project, and still struggling to make any significant progress. I found the easiest thing for me to keep motivated is to have her in my rotation between 2 pieces I love working on, then I try to get her worked on until I can switch to something else! I will let you know about my rotation in a little bit.

A piece I started after WIPocalypse began, The Ghost.

Ghost, current progress:

Page 1 is complete! Loving how this one is stitching up, and out of all my projects, she is the smallest with a mere 75250 stitches, lol. I have decided to add her in for WIPocalypse, and my goal will be the same as on the HAED BB, to complete 2 full pages this year...I am well on my way!

Another piece I started after WIPocalypse began, Lust, one of the 7 Deadly Sins, by Marta Dahlig.

Lust, current progress:

Page 1 complete, and finally, a better picture! Now you can see all the pretty shades of blues, black, and reds and pinks, and the coverage really is quite good on the 25 count fabric. I will also add her to my WIPocalypse goals...my BB goal was to get the first page complete, so I think for here I will set it for the first 2 pages.

So, Melinda asked a really good question with my last update, and that was how to stay motivated to finish a project that you really have no mojo for. I find the easiest thing for me is to stick to a strict rotation. Mine is a little different than everyone else's, as I stitch my HAED's by column, rather than cross country. This allows me to switch projects fairly frequently, and to celebrate the small finishes of columns. I find I get too overwhelmed if I work per page or cross country...maybe it is my OCD, but I just find it more orderly for my brain if I stitch per column. So, my rotation is as follows:

Ascendant>Mystery Project>Lust>Sadness>Ghost

The only exception is Sadness, as I am working the full design column instead of per page column, so I give myself a little wiggle room on not finishing a whole column before switching, as a full one would be 2970 stitches compared to 950-980 for a full page column.

I hope this makes sense, if any of you have any questions, please just ask, as I love to hear from you all!

Ah, and before I forget, some of you have noticed the "Mystery Project" progress bar at the side of my blog...so, a little bit of background.
A good friend of mine has been helping me out a lot recently with yard work and housework since I hurt my back. We have been friends for awhile now, and I know his family as well. His father is pretty eccentric, but he absolutely loves a certain sport, and I found the perfect pattern to stitch, as I loved it too! So, it is now in rotation, but I don't want either one of them to see the progress, as I want it to be a surprise for both of them, so I can't post progress pics as my friend checks my blog. So for any of you who are member's of the HAED BB, I will be posting there once I finish a full page.

And finally, I wanted to send out 2 huge thank yous to two lovely ladies!

First is Alicia, from the Crafty Princess. She was so wonderful to RAK me the lovely chart Ravene, by Marta Dahlig, as she noticed that I absolutely loved it! I was so excited, and she really made my day! The two of us are going to try and stitch all of the 7 Sins, and hopefully do a Ravene SAL in the future.



And Angie, from Miamina's Musings, sent me a lovely message and the chart Hope, by Rebecca Sinz! The chart she picked couldn't be more perfect, as mentally, things have been pretty rough for me with my back still being bad, and not being back to work yet, so it was so appreciated that she RAK'd me just to let me know she was thinking of me. She is such an angel!



So I am not sure if I am going to be carrying on with my usually rotation, or working on something different for IHSW...decisions decisions! For those who haven't signed up yet, head on over to Joyce's blog, Random Ramblings, to sign up!

I promise to be a good blogger and post my update on Monday!

Hugs,
Nikki