Lots of updates - lots of pics!

And I have once again managed not to blog for almost a month! Well, it's not because I haven't been stitching. I've done quite a bit over the last few weeks actually. So here's an update (I apologize for the wrinkly fabric, I simply did not have the time to iron the fabric this morning):

Beloved Child:
It's finally finished!! I'm going to get it framed over the next week or so. It is so good to see the final result - and so good to return to my other projects. It took just about two months to finish for me (not counting the one month I spent in World of Warcraft):

"Beloved Child" at the last update

"Beloved Child" today - finished!

 

Envy:
After the finish I picked up on Envy once again:

"Envy" by Marta Dahlig

"Envy" at the last update in August 2012

"Envy" today - second page finish

Mini Citrine:
After the page finish on Envy, I picked up the Mini Citrine, which I have not worked on in ages! This is also my first full row finish on a HAED!

"Mini Citrine" by Rachel Anderson

"Mini Citrine" at the last update in June 2012

"Mini Citrine" last page in progress (partial page)

"Mini Citrine" full row finish!!

QS Sapphire - NEW START:
For my birthday (the 23rd of Nov.) I received materials from the hubby to start a new cross stitch design. I chose to start QS Sapphire by Rachel Anderson, simply because I think the colours are stunning!:

"QS Sapphire" by Rachel Anderson

"QS Sapphire" progress as of the 26th of November 2012, bottom left corner

That's it for this time around. I'll be working on QS Sapphire for a while now (until the first full page finish).

Happy Stitchings!
- Cat.

Finally an update!

And guess what? I don't have much to update... The last couple of weeks I've been gaming with the hubby - "The Secret World" is a really great game and quite addictive as well. I promise to try and update some more in the future.

So my summerholidays are finally over (sadly) and I started working today. I did not get as much stitching done as I would have liked over the summer, but at least I got some quality time gaming with the hubby :-)

I've been working on Envy since last update (yes, I'm STILL on the same page, and it's driving me mad to be honest - so much black and dark green).

Envy at my last update

Envy as of August 13

I've also been rather bad... ;) I'd sworn I would not buy another chart and start another cross-stitch project. But when some of our very good friends told they were pregnant I could not resist :-) They've been struggling with becoming pregnant for some time now, and now they are expecting a healthy baby boy! I am so happy for them, especially because they are among the kindest of people I know, and I know they will be great parents!

On a more personal note, I guess I've also been able to relate to them a lot, since the hubby and I have experienced some of the same problems. So when something like this happens it really gets my hopes up!

I have therefore ordered a cross-stitch kit (from a Scandinavian page called Ateljé Margaretha) and I intend to stitch it for them as a surprise. I cannot decide when to give it to them though ;-) I hope it'll be in the mail soon, as I would really like to work on this for the upcoming IHSW.

Happy stitching all!

July IHSW update

Hi stitchers!

I spend my IHSW on Envy (of course). In fact, I pretty much only stitched during Saturday. Friday was spent celebrating my four-year wedding anniversary with the hubby. Sunday I spent doing absolutely nothing! I could not pull myself together and pick up the needle. Truth be told, I am growing tired of all the green in Envy, and I am looking forward to work on my other projects as well, but I am determined to finish this page on Envy before returning to my rotation again.

And since I love before-and-after shots myself, I made these for you guys :-)

Before July IHSW

After July IHSW

I could have done more, since I'm still on holiday. But as I wrote; I could not pull myself together. I do like, however, that I have started stitching her dress, so that was a bit of a kick for me.

While playing around with my camera, my dog, Ronja, became very curious:

I think I might take a small break from stitching during this week. Hopefully my stitchy bug for Envy will return very soon!
I am looking forward to see everyone's updates on this weekend's progress!

Happy stitching!
Cat.

Envy and upcoming IHSW

The hubby and I went to London for a week. We only just got home last week. It was great; we got to see some old castles (mainly castles from the Tudor period that I love) and we also saw some of our English friends.

After the trip I started working on Envy again - it takes me forever to finish just one page!

Current progress on Envy

I actually think I've begun stitching her dress, but because all the colours are green, it is difficult to see where the grass ends or begins :-)

I'd also like to encourage everyone to join IHSW this month. Even if you only intend to put in a few stitches. Join here on Joysze's blog: http://joysze.blogspot.dk/

If you don't know what IHSW is, you can read up on it here: http://joysze.blogspot.dk/p/international-hermit-and-stitch-weekend.html

Happy Stitchings everyone!
- Cat.

Envy Update

Hi guys,

I haven't had time to do as much stitching as I would like (but when do I ever?) As I have written in earlier posts I've been busy baking for a party at the school where I work, for everyone who passed this year's teacher's training (and I was among them - yay).

Enough excuses though - here is my current progress on Envy:

Before

After

I've only filled in three colours, but I should hit the bottom of her dress very soon :-)

I've also taken pictures of all the cakes I were to bake for the party:

With that I'll wish you all a Happy Stitchy Summer :-)
- Cat.

1st Page Finish on Envy

Yep, here I go again on Envy. It feels soooo much better with a bit larger stitches and it turns out much nicer in my opinion.

Here's a picture of the entire piece from Heaven and Earth Designs:

And here's a picture of my progress: 

Envy, bottom left, the 24th of June

I am now working on the page right above this one. I am looking very much forward to stitching her dress - I just love the colours! I intend to finish one more page before returning to my rotation system again :-)

I am not sure how much time I'll have for stitching during the upcoming week. The hubby and I are to bake and decorate cakes for approximately 100 people. The school where I teach is throwing a small party for everyone who finished their teacher's training this year, so we'll spend a lot of time baking and making fondant flowers ;-)

- Happy stitchings from Cat.

Late IHSW update

Sorry I'm late with the update. I had exams Monday and Tuesday (or rather, my students had exams). I did not get much done during the weekend, I had to prepare for the exams and visit my parents-in-law. However, I did work a bit on Envy (new start). Here's a picture of my progress so far:

Envy, starting bottom left page (as usual) :-)

 And here is something else I worked on last weekend. Because I'm done with my education the school where I'm working is throwing a small party for the lot of us who finished this year. I agreed to make cakes for the reception and figured I'd better practice beforehand. So this is a small version of what is going to be a rather large cake:

Inside it was all chocolate-cake with chocolate filling

My summer-holiday is starting now, so it's back to stitching (and Diablo 3 and the Sims at some point).

- Happy Stitching from Cat.

IHSW results

Sorry for not posting yesterday, my internet was acting up.

I didn't get to do much stitching this weekend unfortunately. Friday evening we went to my mother's and slept over. Saturday morning we went to see a house, that we've been looking at for some time. Turned out it wasn't for us anyway. Saturday evening we had guests over for dinner, and Sunday we cleaned our appartment, and a couple came to take a look at it. You've probably guessed already, that we're trying to sell our appartment, all though it's not going too well at the moment.

But no more excuses; here is what I had time to do:

I know it isn't much. But then again, my weekend turned out to be dead busy :-(

A page finish! And Hermit and Stitch Weekend.

Wow! I finally made it, I never thought I would. I finished the first page from Envy a few days ago, for all of you quick-stitchers, this might not seem as a big accomplishment, there are so many people out there who stitch much faster than I ever will. But since this is my first HAED design, I do feel this is sort of a milestone for me. So here she is:

I've already started on the second page, since I am behind on my goals. I intended to finish page 1 last month, so I am 13 days behind to be exact.

I found out from Ewa's blog, that there's a Hermit and Stitch Weekend this upcoming weekend. Since I always wanted to participate in those, I signed up - even though we're having guests Saturday, so I probably won't get a lot done. But I am looking forward to see other people's progress on their projects as well.

You can sign up for the Hermit and Stitch Weekend here:
http://joysze.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihsw-july.html

I intend to make an update on monday on how it all went.

Happy Stitching!
Cat.

New design and a new update

I got bored with the old design of this blog, so I changed it. I hope you guys like it. I was hoping I would finish the first page of "Envy" by the end of this month, but this is not going to happen sadly.

My husband and I are leaving for the Canary Islands tomorrow morning, and we'll be gone for a week. I'm not bringing "Envy" with me, since I think it'll probably be too hot to do any cross-stitching. In fact, I think it'll be too hot to do anything besides spending time in the swimming pool :-) And I'm also afraid that I would lose "Envy" if I brought it along, I would most likely forget it in the hotelroom or something.

As of tonight, this is what "Envy" looks like:

As you can see, I am still missing a lot of the confetti, and it takes so long to do. I am hoping to finish during next month - and that should be doable, considering it's now the summer holidays and I'm not going back to work before the 15th of August. :)

Here come the confetti stitches!

So this is my progress so far. The confetti stitches are coming up now, and you can already see I've started on them. I love and hate them at the same time. I hate doing them, I hate the counting all the time, but I have a feeling the result is going to be great, so I'm really looking forward to see the development.

As of June 17th

So many stitches, so little time ...

I have been extremely busy with work lately. I have a bunch of essays to correct still. At least I am almost done with the oral exams. I had almost three full days this week, just with oral exams. My students did well - well, at least most of them :)

Here's a picture of my progress so far:

This picture was taken last night. Sorry if it's a bit dark. Fingers crossed I'll finish the first page by the end of this month :)

Happy stitching,

Cat.

Small update

Here's some pictures of my latest progress:

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday (today)

I think the background is coming out nicely.

I won't have much time for stitching over the next couple of days since I've got a lot of exams coming up. After the 1st of June I'll also have a lot of exam essays (just about 120 essays!) to correct, so plenty of work to do.

First update on Envy

Since I had to wait about a week for the fabric I ordered I haven't been doing much stitching, but here's an update on what I have been doing so far:

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

The border took a very long time, but I'm pleased with the outcome :) There's a lot of confetti stitches coming up soon, and I really hate confetti stitches. I just hope I can still keep going at this pace.

First HAED design

I just ordered my very first Heaven and Earth Design. I never even knew such designs existed until last week. I ordered a design called "Envy" by Marta Dahlig, it's part of a series; "7 Deadly Sins" - all of the seven designs were absolutely breathtaking and it was very hard just to pick one of them. I ended up with this one:



I have already made some preparations for this design, including buying some of the colours needed (I need 90 colours in total!).