Tag Archives: egypt

May 9 2021

Mystery Project Part 4

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It is finished! And yes, it is the pyramids at Giza! I loved working on this and it was so easy. Except… the colors don’t look anything at all like the colors on the finished photograph from the chart. The blues of the sky are not even close. It called for DMC colors, so I am not sure what happened, but I think it looks ok and no one will be comparing the two side by side anyway. The instructions were also non existent and there was no color number listed for the shade that I used behind the hieroglyphs. So I had to just decide on a color. I opted for a light gray and in the end I was a bit disappointed because, again, it didn’t look like the model photo. Oh well.

I really have no idea how I am going to frame this because it is such an odd size. It’s also very small. I stitched it on 11 count to make it as large as possible.

XXX
Carrie

Nov 5 2020

Khufu

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The October 2019 issue of Cross Stitch Crazy magazine featured in one of its columns a small pattern for the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu, the commissioner of the Great Pyramid. Loving all things Ancient Egypt, I knew I had to add this to my to-do list. It wasn’t until a year later that I needed a quick project to work on and decided to give this one a go.

The fabric was left over from Spaceship Earth and was just the right size for this chart. I debated about what fabric to use for almost as long as it took to stitch the design, because I wanted the finished piece to resemble the only statue that exists today of Khufu, which is in a museum and is approximately 3 inches tall.

What do you think? Does the cross stitched piece look like the original?

I didn’t take any progress photos because this one stitched up really quickly. The colors used were all very similar, so good lighting was needed to complete this one. And it really didn’t look like much of anything until the backstitch was added.

I am not sure how I am going to finish off this piece. My initial plan was to cut the figure out and stuff it, with a weighted base, so he would resemble the actual statue. But I am not sure how that would really work out, and it would probably get lost in all the clutter sitting on my desk. I may end up framing it instead, but for now I am not sure.

XXX
Carrie

Mar 5 2019

Egypt, my obsession!

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My daughter’s Girl Scout troop recently celebrated World Thinking Day. Each participating troop had to pick a country that they wanted to learn about and my girls chose EGYPT! I was actually pretty surprised (and excited) because I’ve had a fascination with ancient Egypt for a long time. The girls had to learn about Egypt’s climate, religion, people, sports, foods, and more. They created a display, wore scarves to cover their heads, handed out “swaps” done in the colors of Egypt’s flag, and served everyone that attended an Egyptian dish: watermelon salad. Did you know watermelons were first cultivated in Egypt? Part of their display consisted of my books on ancient Egypt and how to read hieroglyphs. Flipping through these books got me interested in the cross stitch aspect of Egypt again, and making me wish I had more pain-free days for stitching. I decided to search Google for Egyptian themed charts, as I’m sure a lot of new ones have come out since the last time I looked. Look at these gorgeous cross stitched creations!

  

  

    

  

I’ll need to search for the kits or patterns for some of these, to add to my collection. What cross stitch theme do you always need more designs of?

XXX
Carrie

May 16 2017

First Finish of 2017

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I am so excited to be done with this project, and to have my first finish for 2017. The last year or so has been really rough, between all of the things on my schedule along with not physically being well enough to cross stitch. So here it is, at long last, my Pyramids by John Clayton.

pyramids12

Currently this project is sitting in some dish soap and lukewarm water. After I dry and iron it, I will probably need to have a custom frame made, as I don’t think I have anything on hand that will fit something this long and narrow.

XXX
Carrie

May 14 2017

Happy Mother’s Day!

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I spent most of my Mother’s Day cross stitching, with the intent of finishing the Pyramids at last. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully I will get time tomorrow to finish it up. My son especially was really delighted with how it is coming along, and is already asking what my next project is going to be. That’s a good question!

pyramids10

XXX
Carrie

Apr 6 2017

Gods of Egypt

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I am so excited! After months (years?) of searching for the missing portion of the Gods of Egypt chart from New Stitches magazine, I found the digital copy online! You can purchase this chart (and many others) from stitchdirect.com. The chart will be in pdf format and you will be given a link to download it about a day after you purchase it.

godsofegypt

This will be a large endeavor, but it actually looks pretty easy to stitch. Mary Hickmott’s New Stitches magazine was known for their full cross stitch only charts, with no half or quarter stitches and a lot of the time there is minimal backstitching. But this does utilize metallic threads, which will be a challenge. I can’t wait to dive in! Now I need to decide, after I finish the Pyramids, do I start this or the mermaid? Or the butterflies? I also need to finish the deer in the woods, A Summer Ball, and put my little hedgehog pincushion together. Oh, why can’t there be more hours in the day?!

XXX
Carrie

Mar 31 2017

Egypt!

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pyramids4

Well, this doesn’t look like much but it is progress. I am sort of working all over the place now – if the kids are occupied and the house is quiet, I work on areas with lots of counting. If I am watching TV I do areas of large blocks of color. Interestingly, I am listening to a new course I got called The History of Ancient Egypt by The Great Courses. It is presented by Dr. Bob Brier, a professor and Egyptologist who is really fun to learn from. I also just bought another course of his, which teaches you how to read hieroglyphs, but I definitely won’t be studying that while trying to stitch!

Yesterday I went through my collection of Egyptian patterns and have made a list of things I want to stitch. I have two patterns from Dennis Art Needlework which unfortunately don’t have photos to go with them – they are simply black and white charts (with full stitches only, no backstitch). One is called Mask of Tutankamen (I realize this is spelled wrong) and the other is of Nefertiti. I have already stitched a different pattern of Nefertiti, but this is more of a sideways portrait. I did a Google search and found these, which do appear to be the same as the charts I have:

dennis

Then of course there is the huge sampler featuring Tut in the middle, which I have already mentioned in a different post that I want to stitch some day:

egyptxs

I also desperately want to find issue #221 of New Stitches magazine so I can find the third portion of the Gods of Egypt chart.

godsegypt

A chart I didn’t even realize I had was by Stoney Creek from their book Landmarks Around the World. There is a chart of the Sphinx in this book, which I would love to stitch. It is not a terribly large pattern, but the drab colors look kind of daunting.

sphinx

Mary Hickmott’s New Stitches magazine also has an issue (number 81, from way back in 1999!) with a sampler of different world landmarks in it, including the Pyramids. I would love to stitch this one even though it is kind of similar to what I am stitching now. I just can’t get enough of Egypt! This chart is called Dawn of the New Millennium and features all sorts of world marvels such as Stonehenge and Monument Valley, but I am only interested in the pyramids. If you are interested in this issue, I do have copies left in my store: http://www.crossstitchers.com/shop/store.php?&view=NS81-135

NS81

And finally (well, this is not all of my Egyptian patterns, just the ones I REALLY want to stitch!) there is an Egyptian Sampler from Anchor that was in issue 241 of The World of Cross Stitching.

sampleranchor

Yes, that is a LOT of stitching to be done!

XXX
Carrie

Mar 27 2017

Half way done!

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pyramids3

I have reached the halfway point for the Pyramids. I had to take the scroll frame out of the stand so that I could get access to more fabric. It kind of looks like a papyrus scroll! Counting today there are 8 days left of Spring Break. I am determined to make the most of this time and get in some serious stitching.

XXX
Carrie

Aug 2 2016

Pyramids Update

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I haven’t had much time for stitching lately but I did manage to get in a bit of work on The Pyramids since I started it way back in May. The purple started to drive me crazy after a while, but now I have moved on to the pyramids themselves. I am loving how this is turning out.

pyramids2

XXX
Carrie

May 12 2016

Step One: The Sky

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I have started on John Clayton’s “The Pyramids”, which I am excited about. Here is 4 days worth of stitching. So far it is just two shades of periwinkle. I can’t wait to get the sky done and get started on the pyramids! This is a nice easy project to work on in the evenings while watching TV.

pyramids1

XXX
Carrie

May 3 2015

Getting the Family Involved (Stash Finish #7)

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Today I finished Nefertiti, and I had a bit of help from the family. With only three stitches left, I had my hubby and kids each put in one stitch so that this project was worked on by all of us. Naturally, Adrienne (5) had the easiest time with it because I have given her threads and a needle in the past. Aaron also did pretty well. But my poor husband couldn’t see the holes in the fabric so I had to help him out a bit. And here she is, finally finished, although she has not been washed or ironed yet!

egyptqueen

XXX
Carrie

May 1 2015

Progress!

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egyptmay1

I finally got time to sit down and work on this! The kids had a day off of school and spent most of it at grandma’s, and hubby went away for a few days to work on the cabin he is building. So I decided to spend the day stitching and cleaning. I am so glad that I am done with the hieroglyphics on this and can start on her bodice. It won’t be long now before this project is done. And I am super excited that there is absolutely no backstitching in this design. The quality of this photo is pretty bad but hopefully in a couple of days I will have a finished one to post. I am not sure what I will do about framing, though. I don’t think this will end up being a “normal” sized piece so I will probably have to have something custom made.

XXX
Carrie

Mar 30 2015

What a month!

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Stitching has been just about the last thing on my mind lately. I thought bad things were supposed to happen in threes, but I guess not. Actually, the whole month of March has just stunk. It seems like nothing is going right. But there are definitely three “bad things” that stand out. A week ago vehicle #1 died. Okay, not the end of the world; we still had another one to drive. For about four days, that is. Yep, vehicle #2 decided not to start right when it was time to take the kids to school in the morning. Luckily my in-laws live nearby, and they let us use their car. We dropped the kids off at school and went new car shopping. We didn’t want to buy a new car when there was still so much snow on the ground (yes, it is almost April, and yes, we still have snow). But we didn’t have much choice, so we stopped at a few dealers and found something we could both agree on. We picked up the new car on Friday, the last day of school before Spring Break. And of course, the next day our daughter gets sick with a stomach bug. So I was up all night both Saturday and Sunday nights with her. Today (Monday) she was still throwing up and had stomach pains, so we decided to take her to the doctor. Our second trip in our new car was to the doctor’s office, keeping our fingers crossed that she would keep her breakfast down the whole way (she did!). We also dropped off vehicle #2 at the shop to get the battery/alternator/whatever is the problem looked at. Now my little girl is finally sleeping, so I was able to snap a picture of what little cross stitching I have done recently.

So here is my progress on Nefertiti for the past 10 days. I know, it’s pathetic. But at least it is something. I have no idea what is up with her ears. They are actually supposed to look like that. The one on (my) right looks really weird. My daughter noticed it as well.

nefertiti2

XXX
Carrie

Mar 20 2015

Progress on Nefertiti

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Nefertiti is coming along nicely! I doubt I will finish this by the end of the month, which means I won’t have a finish for March. But I should be able to get her done for April and maybe I’ll stitch another small card kit as well. So far I am at 4 (small) finishes for the year.

nefertiti

XXX
Carrie

Mar 12 2015

The face of Nefertiti

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I just had to jump in and start on Nefertiti! The shading is kind of scary; there is so much black in her face. But I think I need to just trust the chart and carry on. I decided to go with my jeweled needle minder for this one – it seemed very fitting!

nefertiti1

The chart is a pain to stitch from because it is on my iPad. Since it is in color, I can’t print a copy (I only have a black and white laser printer). So I think this will be a “during the week” project when I have a bit of time here and there, and A Summer Ball will be reserved for the weekends when I have more time. But I am hoping this one won’t take too long to complete. If I don’t think I can get it done by the end of the month, I am going to have to come up with another small kit from my stash in order to stay on track with one finish per month!

XXX
Carrie

Mar 10 2015

Egyptian Cross Stitch

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I am fascinated with anything dealing with ancient Egypt. I have been collecting cross stitch charts on this topic for years, but never actually got around to stitching any of them. I have had this chart kitted up for about a year, but other projects always seemed to get in the way. Now I think it is time to dig out the materials that have been waiting, and get to work on Nefertiti.

nefertiti

Nefertiti is probably the second most well known Egyptian woman, after Cleopatra. She was the “main” wife, if you will, of the Pharoah Akhenaten. Akhenaten ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt which was around 1300 BC. His name was originally Amenhotep IV but he changed it when he decided to become pretty much the first ruler in history to believe in only one god. He no longer wanted to worship Amun (the main god at the time) and decided that only the sun god Aten was worth worshiping. Nefertiti ruled along with her husband in one of Egypt’s wealthiest times. Unfortunately, she simply vanished from history. No one really knows what happened to her. Akhenaten also lost his mother (Queen Tiye, pronounced Tee) and a daughter around the same time. After Akhenaten died, Egypt got a new ruler…

egyptxs

Tutankhamun. “King Tut” as he is called today was the son of Akhenaten and a woman who was probably Akhenaten’s sister. Yeah, I know. But in ancient Egypt the kings pretty much always married their sisters. You had to keep the royal blood lines flowing, right? This project pictured above is from a German cross stitch magazine called Burda Special (issue E732) and it is HUGE. We’re talking 25×15 inches on 14 count fabric. This is definitely a “way down the line” project for me. But it would be absolutely stunning! No designer is given for this chart, which is a shame. The gods on either side of Tutankhamun are not identified, but I am guessing the ones on the left are Atum and Hathor. On the right, the god is probably Horus. I actually have no idea who the 4th figure is. Her headdress looks like a combination of the single feather Ma’at (female) wore and the double plumed crown of Amun (male). But, this chart has definitely been on my “must stitch list” for a good two years or more now.

XXX
Carrie

May 9 2013

How Time Flies!

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I can’t believe how long it has been since my last post. Things have been crazy hectic around here, and I am starting to feel like I will never get caught up with everything I have to do. I’ve done a bit of stitching, but not as much as I would have liked. I will probably post a mystery project update tomorrow. Instead of stitching, I have been reading cross stitch magazines and looking online for free patterns. Not a great idea… if I had 100 projects on my “to do” list before, I surely have 200 now. Most of the projects I am interested in are Egyptian in nature. I have wanted to stitch a picture of King Tut for years, but never had a chart. Egypt must be a pretty popular subject now though, because I am finding so many great patterns in my magazines. I also have this book, Ancient Egyptian Cross Stitch by Barbara Hammet which has a lot of great patterns.

I’m definitely not going to start anything new until I get my mystery project done, and I might not even let myself work on anything else until some other old projects are finished too. Then again, cross stitching isn’t supposed to be a chore, so I don’t know if forcing myself to work on something I don’t enjoy will really work. I guess I will just have to keep looking at these Egyptian patterns and maybe that will give me the motivation to get stitching on my current projects, for I know that they too will be beautiful when completed.

XXX
Carrie