Under The Sea

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After two years, working off and on, this mermaid is DONE! I am not sure yet how I want to frame her, and she needs one last trip to the ironing board. But I am so glad I stuck with this project and was able to complete it. And now I think I need a break from stitching for a while, and then a nice, simple project when I get back into it!

The beadwork was pretty intense, but sooooo worth it!

The camera can’t do justice to the gold and silver metallic threads.

XXX
Carrie


Coming Along Nicely

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My new lamp is working fantastically and I have been able to get in some stitching here and there, even if only for a few minutes at a time. I believe I have completed all the cross stitching for this mermaid, and I have tried to do the backstitching as I go. That means I am down to the backstitching that uses Kreinik #4 braid for the tail and some embellishments, and then at last it will be time for the beads! I have taken photos here and there, but have not felt up to making blog posts each time. So I will stick a bunch of photos onto this post and you can see my progress for the past 6 weeks.

XXX
Carrie


Return to the Sea

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Now that the mandala embroidery is finished, I am back to working on the red-headed mermaid. In one evening I made a good deal of progress on the tail. Next up is the purple and pink flowing parts around the green. That will entail lots of color changes and the use of blending filament, but I look forward to working on it.

XXX
Carrie


Mermaid Update

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Although I haven’t stitched any more on this recently, I decided to unroll it from the scroll frame so I could get a better look at what I have done so far.

I love this mermaid! I am still going to work on my gingerbread houses for a while, but I can’t wait to get back into this when the weather gets nicer and it is not so dark out all the time. This one really needs a lot of good lighting and attention because it is so detailed.

XXX
Carrie


The Mermaid

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The tail is coming along nicely! But now that it is November and the weather is getting colder, I think I am going to switch over to my gingerbread houses project. I probably won’t get all of it finished in time for Christmas, but if I can complete 2 or 3 more houses I will be happy.

XXX
Carrie


The Mermaid’s Tail

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I have been working on the mermaid off and on for the last couple of months but didn’t realize I hadn’t posted any photos of the tail. It is coming along slowly but surely. The backstitch has been pretty tedious. I am not really looking forward to the backstitching with kreinik braid all through the tail, in a sort of checkerboard pattern. But I’m sure the end result will be worth it. The tail will also be full of beads (you can see the blank spots sort of like polka dots!)

Hopefully this project will get me through the long winter ahead, although I do want to get back to work on the gingerbread houses since it is getting to be that time of year again. But I don’t see how I will be able to finish them for this Christmas. I would rather get the mermaid finished.

XXX
Carrie






Red Hair!

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I am so glad I got to start working on the mermaid’s red hair! The several different flesh colors of her body were starting to get really boring and hard to keep track of. The red is also made up of a bunch of different shades, and the pattern falls onto three separate pages, so it is a bit of a challenge to keep my place correctly. But I am having fun and can even watch a bit of TV while working on her.

XXX
Carrie


It’s A Start

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I finally got to sit down and make a start on the mermaid, and she is a lot of fun to work on! So far I have part of her body and the seashell bra done. My daughter thinks it is really funny looking!

It’s my birthday weekend, so I am taking time off from dishes and laundry and all the other things I normally have to do, and am going to sit on the couch and stitch, stitch, stitch!

XXX
Carrie


The Mermaid, at last!

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I am so excited to finally get to start on this gorgeous mermaid that has been on my “to-do” list for a year. I had a horrible time finding the right fabric for it. I didn’t want to use plain blue, but anything I found that was overdyed just didn’t seem right. I finally found this beautiful hand dyed Jobelan from Wichelt Imports. It is called Caribbean Blue (is that appropriate, or what?!) and is 28 count. However, when I did the needle test, it was actually 25 count. (The needle test involves putting a needle through a couple of the holes in the fabric, straight up and down, then measuring exactly one inch over and inserting another needle at that spot. Then you count the number of stitches from the one needle to the other.) I tried this in various spots in the fabric and ended up with 25 count each time. This means the design would end up being larger than it was supposed to. I double and triple checked my math and found that the fabric was still large enough, so I decided to use it. Here is a picture of the threads laid out on the fabric. My camera really can’t do the fabric justice; it is a much deeper greenish blue than the photo shows. I also took the picture before I ironed the fabric. I did end up ironing it before putting it on my scroll rods so that it wouldn’t need much ironing afterwards.

I really love the gingerbread houses but now that our snow is finally gone, the sun is out, and the tulips are about to bloom, I need a summery project!

XXX
Carrie


Ariel!

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mermaid

Okay, she isn’t exactly Ariel, but she is a mermaid with red hair. And she’s gorgeous! I just received the latest issue of Cross Stitch Gold magazine in the mail (well, the latest for the US, anyway) and it said that this beauty would be in the next issue. Of course, this happens to be one of the issues I won’t be getting because of their horrible subscription deal for US stitchers. The magazine is published 9 times a year, but only in Britain. US subscribers get 6 issues per year. This means that you get two issues in a row, then miss one issue, then get two more issue, miss one, and so on. Of course, being the addicted stitcher that I am (especially when it comes to my British mags) I have to have those missing issues. How do I solve this? By getting a digital subscription through Zinio, when they have their 5 issues for $5 deal going on. Since you can stack subscriptions, I re-subscribe any time they do this offer (2-3 times per year) to ensure that I never lose an issue. Yes, I do get issues digitally that I also get in the mail. I prefer to read the hard copies, BUT if I want to stitch a pattern it sure is nice to have the digital copy to print out the chart instead of having to scan it in. I simply cannot stitch something without destroying the heck out of the copy with either highlighters or colored pencils. So this way I don’t ruin my mags. Anywho, the DAY AFTER receiving a copy of Gold in the mail, the next issue came out on Zinio. And there she was, just wanting to be stitched! I have the pattern printed out and ready to go and have selected the fabric and beads. But I will not be starting this until the Pyramids are finished. I know I should work on A Summer Ball and the deer in the woods, but I have a feeling I won’t be able to stay away from this mermaid for long!

XXX
Carrie