The angel!

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The angel is really starting to take shape! I have decided to do the backstitching my own way. The directions called for couching and cording of the yellow/gold outlines on the robe, and I wasn’t really in the mood to do either. I just want to be done with this project, which has been 5 long years in the making. I made lots of mistakes along the way. The part of the robe where the black and dark green were mixed together (the triangle shaped areas) were supposed to be done in half cross stitch. Oops. The yellow/gold backstitching on the robes was supposed to have gold metallic threads mixed in. I just didn’t feel like working with that stuff any more. The wings are a totally different color from the photo on the kit because, well, Dimensions either messed up or used different colors when they stitched the model. So the backstitch on my wings barely shows up. The kit photo has much nicer colors. Oh well, you live and learn. This was my first Dimensions kit and definitely my last! I can’t wait to stop using this horrible shredding floss and get back to stitching with real DMC.

The kids have their Christmas concerts at school tonight and tomorrow night, so I probably won’t get any stitching done until at least Thursday. But hopefully I can get a lot done over the weekend and maybe, just maybe be done with this stocking by next weekend. Actually, I have to be. Christmas is just a few days after that. Yikes!

 stockingdec8

XXX
Carrie



Done with the cross stitch!

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I was hoping to get all of the cross stitch done on the stocking by the end of the weekend. And I’m happy to say, I did it by Saturday! But I am not going to relax just yet. I still have a TON of backstitch to do. And I think I need to plan a good three days to get the stocking washed, ironed, cut out, and sewn together. This gives me just three weeks to do all of the backstitching. Not only is there a lot of it, but it is complicated – lots of colors, lots of stitches that don’t fall in any actual Aida block, and lots of couching and cording. Ugh. I guess I better get cracking!

XXX
Carrie



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One border section done, two more to go! I am really hoping I can have both of those sections done by the end of the weekend. Thanksgiving is coming up and hopefully I will have time to work on this then. I would love to be able to start on the backstitch before December! The only problem is, this design is getting so out of whack. The areas where the solid red is are so heavy and warped. It made stitching the multicolored border at the heel difficult. I can’t get my fabric taut on the scroll frame, no matter how many times I take it off and start again. I am having to hold the fabric taught in my left hand (pulling the left edge of the fabric towards the left) while I stitch with my right hand. This is the only way I can get tight fabric. A hoop would give me even tension but there isn’t enough fabric to use a hoop at the sides of the design. The little bit that is showing at the bottom of the toe part is literally how much extra fabric I have on this. Just one more reason why I will never stitch another kit from Dimensions. I can not wait to get this thing done! And I’m sure Adrienne will love finally having a stocking with her name on it. Christmas Eve is exactly one month from today. Not much more left to do on this now. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

stockingnov21XXX
Carrie


Whew!

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The heel, toe, and stocking top are finished, and I did not run out of floss. But I have only a few strands left, and I still need to use it in the multicolored border designs which go inside the green lines. So I am not out of the woods yet. But these areas should blend in a lot better if I do run out and need to substitute with another color.

stockingnov18a

XXX
Carrie


Running Out of Floss

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I will definitely never do another Dimensions kit again. I am certain I will run out of the red floss used in the heel. What I am doing now is stitching a row, leaving a row blank, stitching a row, etc. I will then go back and fill in the gaps with whatever floss I have left. If I do run out, I will have to substitute DMC but at least the new floss won’t be in one big block area, which would stick out like a sore thumb. Hopefully if I do have to substitute, it will be subtle.

stockingnov17aXXX
Carrie



Getting Bored

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I have to admit, I am getting tired of working on this stocking. Having a deadline is not helping. I have spent countless hours stitching since the last photo I posted, and I  just feel like I am getting nowhere. I know that’s not true, but I feel that this will never be done by Christmas. I am hoping that I can start working sideways to get over to the other side where the red heel will go. I think if I can get that heel out of the way, this project will look much more finished and will give me a sense of accomplishment. I don’t dare try to count over the empty spaces to work on it though. I know if I did that I would find after stitching it all that I had counted wrong. The nativity scene and the grass have to line up exactly with the heel and the border that goes around it.

stockingnov10

The snow came down heavy all day yesterday. I don’t think it stopped from the time I woke up until I went to bed. Today was more of the same. It’s the perfect weather to curl up with my stitching and listen to some Christmas music. Yes, I actually found the holiday stations on iTunes radio yesterday and listened to Christmas songs while stitching and cleaning the house. I hate winter, and am not ready for snow yet, but I guess I have no choice. Might as well make the most of it and stay inside the warm house and stitch!

XXX
Carrie



I’m seeing red!

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stockingoct28a

I have been working on the toe of the stocking, which is all done in 4 strands of red, using half cross stitches. After doing the outline, it was actually a nice treat to be able to sit down and stitch without counting or without changing colors. My goal was to fill in the outline over the weekend, but I didn’t quite make it. I completed the toe on Monday afternoon.

 stockingoct28

Now we are getting somewhere! The orange colored parts of the chart are the parts that have been stitched. These photos were taken with my digital camera – such a difference from the iPhone!

XXX
Carrie


A Feeling of Accomplishment

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october12014

Tonight I finally made some real progress on the angel stocking. Other than the backstitch, the angel herself is complete. Notice that there is a blank row at the very top of the stocking, under the green row of stitches. The multicolored pattern will go there, but it was such a pain to stitch that I had to take a break from it after completing the first row. There will also be a row of that pattern at the heel and at the toe.

I am a bit worried about the name at the top. It looked great when I stitched it, but when I took the project off of the scroll rods to get a picture, the entire piece was warped out of shape. Hopefully I will be able to press it into shape when it is all done, but I don’t know if the long stitches on the name will be okay. I might have to take them down with some couching stitches. Worst case scenario, I will have to rip the name out and do it again at the very end.

XXX
Carrie


An almost complete angel

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I have not taken photos of my progress on the Heavenly Herald stocking in a while, but I have been working on it. I am pleased to say that the angel is almost finished! Except for the backstitch, that is. If the kids give me a bit of time tonight I should be able to finish up the last cross stitch part of her dress. After that, it is onto the rest of the sky, which should go fast since it is all half stitch. I can’t wait to get this stocking done!

XXX
Carrie




Ran out of room

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stockingjuly28

I have done just about all of the cross stitching I can do on this stocking, unless I want to move my Q Snaps, which I am not thrilled about. I really don’t want to put the clamps on top of some of the stitching I have already done. I tried working on some of the backstitch, but it is AWFUL! You can see some of it (done in black) at the bottom of the yellow and purple sash of the angel’s robe). None of the stitches actually follow any kind of path. It is like working on the Margaret Sherry hedgehog all over again. So I think I might have to give up on this project for the next two weeks and just get back to it when I am home and have my scroll frame set up. Even then, I will probably just wing it – the stitches all cover cross stitches, they don’t actually go around the stitches. So I don’t think anyone would even notice if I just did the outlining freehand. I did happen to bring some Hardanger supplies with me on vacation; maybe I will have a go at that. After all, I can’t not have something to work on!

XXX
Carrie



New on my “Must Stitch” List

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The other day while looking at another stitcher’s blog, I found a project that I instantly knew I had to stitch. It is called Summer Ball and was designed by Sandy Littlejohns and Deborah Lester. This chart was originally a 3-part series in Cross Stitch Collection (British) magazine. Although I have many old copies of that magazine, I did not have those particular issues. A quick search online took me to stitcherydoodahs.co.uk, which is Sandy and Deborah’s website. Luckily, they had the chart for sale as an instant download, so I purchased it. If you are a fan of Pride and Prejudice, you will know why I just have to stitch this!

summerball

I can just imagine the dancers in the center as being Elizabeth and Darcy. Since I am still on vacation, I can’t get started on this yet. And I think I will force myself to finish the Heavenly Herald Angel Stocking first. But I think this will be a fun (and huge) project to work on this winter. I think I will do two things I have never done before – gridding and parking. I have done a tiny bit of parking on the angel stocking, but only in the border which had many colors all intertwined. I want to grid the entire piece of fabric and then work one page at a time, doing one block of 10×10 stitches at a time. I think it will be like learning a foreign language since I have cross stitched every project the same way that I learned when I started 30+ years ago. But I am always up for a challenge!

XXX
Carrie




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The angel is really taking shape now! The blue sky and stars on the left is the very left edge of the stocking. The area above the angel’s head will be the top part where my daughter’s name will go. I am going to work on the rest of the angel’s robe now because I am running out of room on my Q Snaps. I don’t want to ruin any of the stitching I have already done, so I am going to do as much as possible on the fabric that is showing. When I get home in about 3 weeks I will transfer to my scroll frame which will give me access to the sides and very top to work on. These areas are covered by the Q Snap clamps right now.

angel1

XXX
Carrie