Hasn't worked very well, has it!?

The whole point of these questions was to try and encourage me to blog everyday.  Well .. uh .. nope, that ain't happened!  Here we are on 4 November and I've missed three days' worth already .. oops!  Right, catch up time.

Day 2: What is your current stitching project?

At the moment I am working on one of my HAED projects, Tranquility.

Day 3: Do you have any other WIPs?

Seriously, is this a loaded question or what lol !  Of course I have other WIPs, or should I call them (slow)WIPs?  I have - actually I am not going to say how many - other HAEDs on the go and also some kits that are in my 'deep storage' that really ought to be finished at some point.

Day 4: How did you learn to stitch?

I bought a kit and followed the instructions!  So totally self-taught as no-one in my family, or none of my friends come to think of it, were stitchers.  My Nan used to knit and crochet and my Mum can knit and is great with a sewing machine, but at the time she wasn't a stitcher (although I have now turned her to the dark side, along with my sister!).

Not really much else to blog about today and, most boringly, no photos :-( I've been making steady progress on Tranquility and had hoped to have half the page done by now but I'm not quite there yet.  Hopefully I might get caught up a bit over the weekend, children allowing.

We've had the final page for the SAL today too, so I really ought to do some more on Curl Up as I think I am a couple of posts short of the requirement to qualify for the remainder of the SAL charts.  I  also need to do some more work on Ice Wind, but I just can't seem to tear myself away from Tranquility.  On the plus side though, I have met - quite unintentionally - some of my yearly goals on the HAED BB!  Yay, go me!

An icy wind blows in a page finish!

After the SK SAL week I am pleased that I am on course and have finished the first page of Ice Wind! The first time ever on a SAL that I am actually keeping up. Of course, now that I have said that I will now fall woefully behind! Here she is in all her first page glory:

I am avoiding the themed SAL this week - which is new start! New start?! I really don't need another one right now lol (but more of that below) so I have gone back to Curl Up with a hope of getting at least the first page finished and hopefully a bit more too. It's nice to have some bright colours after the tans, blues and creams of Ice Wind.

Now, a bit of news, but I won't go in to too many details right now - at least not until I have the project in my hands. I have signed up for a memorial stitch for a fellow stitcher who sadly passed away this last week. She was far too young, only 26 and had undergone a heart/lung transplant last year. She died very suddenly and has left a huge void in the lives of her family, friends and online buddies. I hope that the project that is being planned will be something that her family will treasure. RIP Chelsea, God bless.

A little update this time :-)

After my last mammoth post, a smaller update this time. I worked on Portrait of Ophelia this last week as part of the HAED ufo/swip SAL. I've been itching to get back to her, even if all I am stitching is black, black and more black! I managed to get a fair bit done, so am now 6 columns down and just 2 away from the page finish. Yay!

So back to Ice Wind this week for the SK SAL. I'm aiming for a page finish this week so that I am on track to finish her in time.

I've decided not to join in the themed SAL next week as it is a lethal one - the new start SAL! I so do not need another new start! So, I will use next week to make sure that I get my page on Ice Wind done, and will go back to Ophelia to get her page done too.

Another Fairy Day has been and gone ...

so here is my post-Fairy Day SAL update ....

For Fairy Day itself I was working on SK Sunny (from last years SAL!). I'm still on the dreaded confetti that is her hair and boy is it frustrating! Over the four days I had allowed for her I only managed to complete the column I had left her at in November 2010, so still a long way to go :-( Here she is:

After that, I made a start on Ice Wind for this year's SK SAL.

Opinion was divided on this one and the wonderful Michele at HAED has, as a result, done a rechart of her face and neck as some stitchers thought she didn't look enough of a 'English Rose' with the colours she had used. I have both versions and originally intended to stitch the alternative version, but after I had put the first few stitches of her neck in I have now gone with the original. It seemed to me that the neck colour was just too similar to her hair. So, we will see how she goes.

I had hoped to get half the page done but I ran out of steam halfway through the week, so managed just three columns. Hopefully next month I will be able to complete the page and will be back on target. Here she is stitched one over one, full crosses on 28ct ice blue jobelan:

So SAL week this week is the QS, so back to my little draggie on Curl Up. Fudgey has sent page 4 through this month but I am sooooo far off that it is untrue lol. I am hoping to get page one done this week - but we shall see ...

By jiminie ..

... I think it worked! My stitchy bug has returned :-) After a terribly long (for me) absence, he has finally made his way home thanks to my joining in with the HAED swip SAL!

I worked on Early Visit this week and I managed to complete the whole page, so I actually stitched 5 columns. I've now got to her hair, so the next page should be a little more interesting. Here she is:

The next two weeks are the Fairy Day and SK SALs. So for those, Sunny as I really need to get going on her and, of course, Ice Wind (a lovely new start).

Here is Sunny how I last left her in November 2010!

I'm going to give her my full attention for 4 days and then will settle her into the regular swip SAL each month in the hope that I can get her done. Page 2 is confetti mad but page 3 should be a quicker stitch. She is being stitched on 25ct, which I have now decided is NOT my thing. I don't really like my coverage on it but it does make a nice change from the 28ct and is giving my eyes a bit of a rest :-)

Finally, Ice Wind. No before picture but I will make a start on her on Friday. Hopefully by then I will have the rest of my threads so that I can start her fully kitted up.