2011 Recap & 2012 Ambitions

Well, hello there, outside world! We still haven't got Internet and prospects are looking grim for ever having it! For a modern technology lover, this is most definitely a hit below the belt, haha~ I spent this weekend attempting to catch up on everyone's blogs but please forgive me the lack of commenting as of late. I am reading everything (hopefully everything -- Blogger is still acting wonky for me) and enjoying everyone's progress and holiday posts (I've lived my Christmas through y'all!). :D

Since I've got no new progress of my own to post, I thought I'd do a recap of my victories in 2011! It was a rather slow year of stitching for me; too many other things seemed to be happening!

Companion Cube - January

First accomplishment was a badge of the Companion Cube from Portal (video game for the unfamiliar). I was in such a hurry to make it into a badge, I forgot to do the backstitching detail! I designed the pattern in KG-Chart but didn't have the specific flosses in my stash so I worked with what I had. I took a darker gray and blended it with white for a lighter appearance. I think it worked pretty well but you can tell I'm not a railroader, ehehe~ Despite its unfinished-ness, I still really like it and it resides on my purse for all to admire.

Sunflower Tag - August

After a long expanse of no completions, I finished up this little piece for my guy's wonderful grandmother. It was a quick stitch pulled from a sampler in BH&G's America's Best Cross-Stitch. It was also my first attempt at learning a new stitch - blanket stitch! I felt wonderfully accomplished for it was quite an easy stitch and really helped make the edge look neat. Now if I could only cut straight. :D

Christmas Crewel - September

I started to pick up the pace and get some things done during this part of the year. Mostly because it gets too darn hot to do anything but sit inside an A/Ced room! This was a crewel kit I picked up at a yard sale. It had been started but I think the amount of French knots may have terrified the previous owner. I love French knots and these weird ones were especially fun. They could be "messy" and look perfectly fine! I did run out of the right green for some of the boughs and had to substitute in something from my stash. It doesn't quite match and was an absolute nightmare to stitch with but I'm glad I persevered and finished it!

FFVIII Logo - September

Possibly the crowning achievement. I'm planning to stitch all the logos in the main Final Fantasy series (again, a video game for the unknowing) but the order is somewhat haphazard. My boyfriend chose the first one and his favorite is Final Fantasy VIII. I designed this pattern in KG-Chart and promptly ignored most of it. Even still, it was fun to design and stitch and I learned a lot about the pattern making process! In retrospect, I almost wish this wasn't the first one I stitched because it's one of the more complicated logos. The gradient was very hard and there's only one area of it in the completed project that turned out as close to perfect as I could wish (the area directly above the T). I've taken that learning experience and applied it to the next FF pattern!

Halloween Blair - October

The last completed project of the year was my Halloween stitch! I designed this pattern from images in the Soul Eater manga (Witch Blair in kitty form and the Soul Eater logo on the "Soul Pumpkin"). I also charted out the font from the Pumpkin font found through a Google search. Limited to only items in my stash, the colors are a little bit darker than I would have liked but it turned out pretty well methinks! Especially considering this was the first pattern I drew completely from scratch in KG-Chart!

Only five completions and two of them were smalls! And no Christmas completions! Ah, how terrible~ I'm hoping to do much better this year. I've got the next Final Fantasy pattern ready as well as the materials for it. I'm raring to start stitching it but I still have to get some things in order at the new place. Maybe I could do some smalls to pacify/motivate/relax me. I really like making the badges.

As for some ambitions for 2012, I'm hoping to get at least two more FF logos under my belt (three or more if I really buckle down). I want to attempt a new style of embroidery (hardanger, perhaps?) or at least learn another new stitch. I'd also like to stitch a few Christmas cards. In terms of pattern designing, I was hoping to really get more active in the Sprite Stitch request forums but without Internet... Quite a damper! Maybe I'll actually finish the Dolphin Trio which is turning into a UFO. I'm signed up for this year's TUSAL (found a jar, wee!) and I'd like to join in a few (all?!) IHSWs! Internet being an issue (yes, I'm going to complain about this way too much), however, posting results won't be as punctual as I'd like but hopefully it'll work out!

I apologize for the wall of text and will let you have your eyeballs back now, haha. Enjoy your stitchings! :D

Cruel Finish

Cruel indeed. Four. Four little pine boughs. Fourrr. And I ran out of yarn. It'd be hard to find a replacement for the yarn as the kit is 30 years old. So, I improvised. I used the closest green yarn I had in my stash to finish it up. It's a little darker than it's supposed to be but it works.

...Right? D:

Count the French knots? :D

Also, if it is possible for yarn to hate, the replacement yarn really hated me. Maybe it didn't like being taken apart (I only needed one little ply) but I'd stitch. And it would fray apart. I'd get a new piece and stitch. It would fray apart. I persevered and so, finished. Take that, yarn! You cannot defeat me!

I hope you like French knots because there's more than the grains of sand on every beach in the world. Luckily, most of them aren't "pretty" French knots. In other words, they didn't have to be perfectly tight little balls. Instead, they have a little loopy sticking out one side. It's most noticeable in the girl's hair (which I find adorable despite it being warning cone orange).

Now, how should I actually finish it? I think a rough wooden frame would suit the piece quite well. Finding one might take another couple of years. I also considered a felt back lining and turning it into a sort of wall or window hanging thing. Any other suggestions? I'm really hopeless when it comes to Ultimate Finishing Techniques.

Stitches involved: satin stitch, stem (outline) stitch, French knots, back stitch, long and short split stitch.

Of Cats and Crewel

After browsing around on here, it came to my attention that a very large portion of cross-stitchers (and crafters in general!) have feline friends. Well, the internet does tell me that cat owners are more intelligent... ;) Seriously, though, I find it kinda interesting that so many crafty types are cat lovers. I have three kitty helpers - a silent, hyper, mixed Siamese male (Peanut), a vocal, black-and-white, head-butter female (Oreo), and an ancient pinkish/tan and white grandma kitty (Sandy). I have to make sure to put away my cross-stitch stuff because the temptation to steal a skein of floss is too great for them~

I had to take a break from FFVIII. I'm very, very close to being finished, but I was starting to feel like I was rushing and the stitching was suffering as a result. I put it aside for a while so I could step back, breathe, make mental adjustments before I go crazy and frog the last few letters entirely. Because I couldn't just not do anything, I dug out an old WIP that has been sitting forgotten in my stash box for a year.

Not my work - as picked up at yard sale!

Not the best pic but it's as of tonight

Crewel work is interesting. This one is so... 80s! I found it at a yard sale for 50¢ already started but it was so cute I couldn't pass it up. I don't necessarily like stamped canvas as there's no guarantee that it will line up with the fibers in such a way that one won't be able to see the stamps. I can hear some shrieks over the internet at the amount of french knots, haha. Both lambs, the girl's hair, decorations, etc. French knots don't really bother me but I'm not so great at satin stitching. I think my tension isn't tight enough in the hoop, or something.

Ah, well. I feel like it's a movie sort of night so I think I'll dig out some snow ice cream (well, maybe I should make supper first) and zombie in front of a different screen for a while. :D