Busy doing nothing ...

Well I've had a week of just that! I managed just four hours actual stitching time on Alice this week, and then spent the rest of the week prepping up Vanity - sorting threads and gridding fabric. I think it took me the best part of four days but it is a large design. I've ordered threads but some are out of stock so I haven't quite got them all. I also ordered some new bars for my NeedleNeeds frame as I don't have any wide enough. They were out of stock too but should be with me at the beginning of next week.

So now I am putting Alice away for a while. I am going to make a small start on Vanity this week. T and I are doing this as a mini-stitchalong and we've even got our own forum on Craftbubble! Then the week after that will be the second HAED SK stitchalong, so back to Sunny for a week.

As it's all change, time for some more photos. The first one is Alice and the second one is Vanity, prepped and ready to go!

Alice at 31 July 2010

Vanity ready to start

Decisions, decisions

Tough decisions to make today .. the wonderful HAED site is having a sale and with 30% off it really is worth stocking up and adding to the stash! So far I have four charts in my basket two big designs and two small. Trouble is I just can't decide which to get!

Let's face it it's not like I really need to get yet more charts, after all I've got several on the go already and sooooo many waiting but I have to say that Vanity by Marta Dahlig is calling to me quite loudly. It would look so good on lilac 28ct evenweave, the purples in it are gorgeous! One of the Faces of Faery is also looking likely - really pretty electric blues and the eyes are so cute!

So after much deliberation, I got Vanity (Dahlig) Faces of Faery 14 (JBG) Afternoon Tea (Spangler) and Heart on her Sleeve (HL)! Vanity has now jumped to the top of my to do pile - over Pink Lightning which I was sure I wanted to do next. I've ordered my fabby, threads, a different coloured gridding thread and some bigger bars for my frame. I now have to wait until it all arrives to make a start. I will definitely have to grid my fabby and I think, given the size of Vanity, that will take a while.

It does mean that it looks like one of my current wips is going to have to take a backseat for some time. As Aurora seems to be out of favour at the moment, I think it will have to be her. So, one of my half year goals is out already :-(

I think I will slip Vanity in as my main piece, taking the majority of the month and then do a week on Alice and carry on with the stitchalong for this year. I will probably not be able to take part in next year's stitchalong (if they do one) that is unless there is a storykeep there that I absolutely have to do!

Don't you just hate it when ...

life gets in the way of your stitching? Well, that's how it has been this week and I've barely stitched poor Aurora. Instead I've seen Eclipse and I've also read the Twilight novella both of which were good. It's been a mad last week of the school term with stuff going on every day and I've had a great weekend in London seeing a show and shopping my socks off!

But, on the downside, I have totally lost my stitchy bug, I can't believe it :-( I've only managed 4 hours stitching this week and now I should be moving on to Alice again but I just can't summon up any enthusiasm at all. I've done so little stitching on Aurora it really isn't worth taking a picture!

Alice is still sat in my stitching bag, it's late and there is no chance of stitching tonight. Hopefully if it get her all set back up on the frame I'll find my bug again. I've got two weeks stitching on her until the next stitchalong, and back to Sunny again, so hopefully that wandering bug will be back soon.

The end of the first Sunny week ...

Thursday (the 8th) was the end of the first week for the Sunny stitchalong.

Basically, the HAED bulletin board put up five charts and I got to choose the one I wanted to stitch. I was sent the info for the chart I had chosen (Sunny by Myka Jelina) and then one week a month - from the first Friday to the following Thursday - I stitch on that chart. I have to put progress pictures on the board and, as long as I've put at least two pictures on between July and December this year, I will qualify to get the other four charts free! These get sent to me some time in January and I can add them to my (rapidly expanding HAED) collection!

I think this is a brilliant idea and the ladies that organize it are fab, it must take such a lot of work. It's amazing to think that there are stitchers all over the world stitching on the same chart as me! It has been really interesting to see how far everyone has got within the week. Some people have done a little, some a bit more and I think there is one poster who has done the whole page! I wish I could stitch that fast but you have to remember never to measure yourself against others! Everyone stitches differently and some have more time to stitch (time to stitch is pretty rare round here although I can usually get a couple of hours a night in).

I am pretty pleased with how far I have got. You can just make out where her eyes are going to be. I think I have got about a third of the page done although I do need to bite the bullet and stitch the flower that should be in the top right hand corner. It's got loads of confetti stitches in it and I think I'll come back to it next time - it'll help break up the monotony of stitching the white of her face. The colours are gorgeous though, so many shades of purple but it really is effective. The crosses you can see all over the fabby is my gridding - this is really useful on HAED designs as it is sooooo easy to lose your place and if you do you're in trouble! They are such a pain to frog as the count is so high the stitches come out really tight and you just can't get the needle in to unpick then without the thread fraying all over the place!

I think managed to get about 2300 stitches in and I spent about 19 and a half hours on her. It doesn't look much for that amount of time does it! It has been really hot though this week so it's made it really hard to actually just sit and stitch. And the bugs have been driving me crazy - I've got all the windows open because it is so hot but the daylight lamp seems to attract every bug in town! I've had to resort to a citronella candle by the side of me to try to keep them away - doesn't seem to be working that well unfortunately :-(

So, that's Sunny's week done. Back onto Aurora now for the next week, the greens and blues will make a change from the purples and black. I've not stitched on Aurora since 20th June so it will be nice to get back to her.

making a start .... with some half yearly goals

Well I've hit 40 and decided that I would do something a bit different this year. Quite why that means I've started a blog, I've no idea. Not normally the sort of thing I would do at all! I guess it is just an extension of the paper stitching diary I have already been keeping for a few months - just with more photos! Anyway, this is one first for me.

Another first is that I've set myself some half yearly goals on the HAED bulletin board. I've never done this with my stitching before, I've always just gone with the flow and picked up projects here and there as I've fancied. I've started things when I wanted to and that's probably why I have a box full of UFOs! I'm only stitching HAEDs at the moment, nothing else seems to be grabbing my attention. There are so many designs to chose from I don't think I will have enough time ever to do all the ones I want to. The tiny crosses are sooooo addictive and the satisfaction you get from finishing, knowing that you have completed over 25 thousand stitches, is great. I've already got a collection of charts waiting to be stitched but they will have to wait their turn as the goals for July to December are:

1. Finish the Sunny SK
2. Finish Aurora's Garden QS
3. Complete pages 1-4 of Alice Descending (two whole and two partial pages)

I'm not sure how I will get on with these goals but I'll give it a go. I am fairly sure I will finish Sunny and Aurora, it's just whether or not stitching in a rotation of 3 projects will let me have enough time on Alice to get the pages in. I'm aiming to do a week on Sunny, a week on Aurora and then the other two weeks on Alice. Any fifth week in the month I will probably spend on Alice. I suppose if it gets near the end of the year and the finishes aren't looking likely then I can always drop Alice out so that at least I reach two out of three.

Here are all three projects at their current stages, they are all stitched on 25ct lugana, Alice on cream and Aurora and Sunny on antique white:

Alice Descending - HAED Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Sunny SK SAL - HAED Myka Jelina

Aurora's Garden QS - HAED BK Lusk

I'll probably post update photos at the end of each project's week of the month, but I'll see how it goes.

And of course I am already planning my next couple of starts, probably Pink Lightning for my main project (this will be the biggest HAED I will have attempted) and also one of the Faces of Faery as a smaller project. Whichever ones I decide on they will probably both be by Jasmine Becket-Griffith as I really love her stuff. I've already got some baby pink 28 ct for Pink Lightning (I've not tried 28ct before so it should be interesting) and I think I might get a bit of lilac as well as a couple of the Faces are quite purpley. I also need to get another set of bars for my Needleneeds frame as I don't have a wide enough pair but I think I will get them when I go to the Ally Pally craft show in October with T.

Right, enough waffle time to get on with it.