Legendary Creatures Finish

 Happy New Year! May your 2021 be better than 2020!

Per tradition, I'm going to make a bunch of grand and unreasonable claims of goals I'm going to meet in 2021 and then I'm going to not meet a single one of them:

- Catch up with my podcasts. I'm currently in September 2017 and have a ton to catch up on but hey, stranger things have happened
- Wash up the kitchen in the evenings before bed instead of in the mornings when I wake up
- Go to bed on time and try to get around 8 hours of sleep a night (this one will be very, very difficult for me as I average about 6 hours of sleep a night)
- Fold my laundry when it's done instead of leaving it in the hamper until it gets all wrinkly
- Be kinder to myself
- Finish at least one stitching project and one knitting project
- Gal Godot bod
- Read 27 books
- Bill 2,000 hours at work

Obviously some of these are more attainable than others.

I've been silent the last few months mostly because I haven't had much time to stitch. End of year is always the busiest at work for us and I've been working 10-16 hour days, daily since October. I have a week and a half off in January so I'm excited for that and all the stitching and video gaming I'll be doing. H³ got me Hades and I have been obsessed with it. It has been a nice escape (that's a pun for those of you who know what the game is about) but I try to only play on the weekends and stitch or knit on weekdays. My friend commissioned a gorgeous blanket (that will take me forever) so that's been on my needles for a while. 

 In other news, I did finish the Legendary Creatures SAL (from 2018 whoops)!

Before:

Finished:

I think it turned out really nice! I have already had it framed and it will be given to my nephew (2 years old) to hang in his bedroom. I felt like it was a nice kid gift. 

I've also done another week of stitching on Fairy Tales but I'll post that soon. 

With that, I'll wrap up this post. Again, happy new year. Happy 2021. Happy end of 2020. I hope everyone is healthy and safe. Here's to a better year.

Happy stitching!

Legendary Creatures - September (Complete)

 Legendary Creatures was next in my new rotation and I managed to finish the September installment!

Before:

After:

R for Rainbow Serpent and W for Wendigo made an appearance.

I have three months left of this (woefully late) SAL and I'm going to try to push through as many letters as I can the next time it comes up in the rotation. Ideally I'd love to get it framed in time to be able to give it to my nephew as a Christmas gift. Not sure how successful I'll be, but that's the plan, anyway.

New rotation is good so far. I've been swamped at work since coming back from vacation so not much stitching has happened but I'm hopeful for this weekend. Fingers crossed.

Stay safe and happy stitching!

Legendary Creatures - August

My stitching dreams are coming true. I'm getting more stitching done and meeting my goals. With that, I finished August's installment of Legendary Creatures just in time to start this month's installment of Once Upon a Fairy Tale SAL.

Before:

After:

I actually had a really rough week, emotionally, this week. In the middle of it I screwed up on the "P" in this piece and I just wanted to throw it right in the bin and give up. H³ convinced me not to and I worked around it. But yeah. I know there's a mistake in there. I hate that there's a mistake in there. But it is what it is. I'll be giving this piece away when it's done anyway so that's that.

I finished the above Saturday night and the Once Upon a Fairy Tale SAL starts today so yesterday I worked a little bit on Medieval Shelf. I'll go back to it after this month's SAL but have it timed out for number of stitches so that I finish it by next month's SAL. Hopefully I can make it!

With that, I gotta get to it! I want to finish the current page of the SAL this month which will require some hunkering down! Happy stitching!

Legendary Creatures SAL Update (May, June, July)

It has been a while since I've posted an update to my woefully behind Legendary Creatures SAL. That being said, I HAVE been working on it, usually between page finishes of larger pieces. I've finish May, June, and July and will now be turning back to the Flapping Parrot for another page.

Before:

After:

Quite a few letters added! This is a fun one - I finish each letter over 2-3 days of stitching so it feels like a little mini finish with each one. I think I might give this to my nephew when it's done.

Other than that we have had cutbacks at work. Nothing too terrible and I still have my job, but we'll see what the future holds. Just keeping my head down and trying to stay off the radar in any bad sense while turning things as fast as I can in as high a quality as possible.

Today's is H³'s birthday. I made tiramisu last night (which will be enjoyed shortly) and we're just spending the day enjoying each other's company. Bit of a crap time to have a birthday, but we'll make the most of it.

I hope everyone is well and stays well. In the meantime, happy stitching.

Medieval Shelf and Legendary Creatures April

So I realize that it has (once again) been a very long time since I last posted. Everything has changed since March 27th (date of last post).

March 28th I received a text message from H³ stating we need to move out. I don't know if you remember but we've been living at my parent's house since August 2014 - the entirety of our marriage. Things like that wear on you. He told me which apartment complex he was looking at, which told me he'd done his research. I checked it out. The complex was dog friendly, close to where we were now so we could continue with our commuting situations, near a lake, everything was basically perfect. So we made an appointment to tour it that Saturday, the 31st.

Saturday morning we went and looked at the place. We were looking to rent a one-bedroom and they had two apartments ready for immediate move-in. We looked at them both, picked out the one we liked better, and applied right then and there. I was a bit wary about the cost (Google "Bay Area Housing Market" and it will explain everything) but we were approved and signed the lease. Now to tell our parents.

That same day my sister and brother-in-law were coming over for Easter dinner. Perfect time to share the great news.

Except my sister announced she was pregnant with her first before I could say anything. So in one day we decided to move out and found out we were going to be an aunt and uncle. But we made our announcement anyway and that was that.

The following week was my review at work. This was the "make it or break it" review that would determine whether or not I would be looking for another job. Not because I thought I was going to get fired but because I really needed a raise and if I didn't feel like the raise they gave me was sufficient I would start looking. I had a minimum number in mind before going in.

Suffice it to say I will not be looking for another job. They not only gave me a raise, they blew any expectations I had out of the water. The raise was massive (over 30%) and I got a promotion and up in job title as well as a bonus. I still work a LOT but I'm somewhat less bitter about it because I'm getting compensated appropriately.

Then we went on vacation to NYC for a week and when we came back we moved into our new place.

Things have taken a few weeks to settle down. We're finally unpacked. Xena was a little depressed for the first few weeks but I still take her to visit my parents and zoom her around the backyard. There's a dog park in the complex and although she's very frightened of other dogs we're slowly socializing her and she's already made a doggie friend she absolutely loves. With time, I think, she'll adjust well. She also loves to take walks by the lake across the street and I take her there almost daily. I've started running again and the SF Half is at the end of July. I've got great trails here and don't ever have to even cross a street during the course of my training runs. H³ and I have our own space, albeit it's a small apartment but still, and we're getting along much better. Even my parents and I are getting along better.

All in all that's been my last month and a half in a nutshell. Amazing what a difference a few weeks can make.

I haven't had much time for anything, even stitching, but I'm slowly getting back into it. I recently finish April's SAL and I'm also going to post the Medieval Shelf from a few months ago I never got around to posting.

March:

April:

Designer: Cloudsfactory

Pattern: 2018 Legendary Creatures Alphabet SAL

Fabric: Picture This Plus "Nocturne" in 32 count Belfast

Stitched: 2 over 2

Floss: DMC and Weeks Dye Works

 

And for Medieval Shelf, before:

 

After:

Designer: Heaven and Earth Designs

Pattern: "Medieval Shelf" by Randal Spangler

Fabric: 25 count Evenweave

Stitched: 1 over 1

Floss: DMC

 

And, of course, how could I leave you without a photo of the new apartment:

And our doggo enjoying the lake:

Happy stitching, everyone!

Medieval Shelf and Legendary Creatures March

I should have two updates for you for Medieval Shelf but my camera batteries are dead and I haven't charged them or taken a more recent picture so that'll come in another post.

Before:

After:

Designer: Heaven and Earth Designs

Pattern: "Medieval Shelf" by Randal Spangler

Fabric: 25 count Evenweave

Stitched: 1 over 1

Floss: DMC

 

You can see that I've gridded Medieval Shelf mid-page. I'm trying out Sulky thread for gridding since I'm toying with the idea of extreme cross country and I needed a gridding thread that was more flexible. So far so good! Not sure what H³ will have me rotate to after this but I'll pull the row out all the way to the end and cross country it and see how it works.

I also finished another month of the Cloudsfactory Legendary Creatures SAL. It took me way longer because March has been absolutely insane at work but I just finished it tonight so hot off the hoop!

February:

March:

Designer: Cloudsfactory

Pattern: 2018 Legendary Creatures Alphabet SAL

Fabric: Picture This Plus "Nocturne" in 32 count Belfast

Stitched: 2 over 2

Floss: DMC and Weeks Dye Works

 

I absolutely love it so far and each letter is a really quick stitch which makes me feel accomplished.

I have two more bits of news. One is that I signed up for the San Francisco Half Marathon again this year. Watch for me on the news as they wheelbarrow me away from the finish line, if I make it that far.

The other is that I'll be going to HAEDcon this year! I'll try to blog from the con and am super excited about it. Maybe I'll even see some of you there!

So with that, I'm going to bed. For the first time in weeks I didn't work overtime today and it's not for lack of need, but due to super burnout. Vacation in two weeks! WOOT!

Happy stitching!

Legendary Creatures SAL - February

I finished the Cloudsfactory Legendary Creatures SAL for February!

Designer: Cloudsfactory

Pattern: 2018 Legendary Creatures Alphabet SAL

Fabric: Picture This Plus "Nocturne" in 32 count Belfast

Stitched: 2 over 2

Floss: DMC and Weeks Dye Works

I for Ifrit and N for Nessie - loved every stitch and can't WAIT for March! It's nice because it's a little finish with every letter and they're pretty quick stitches.

I don't have much to report right now but I WILL have an update on Medieval Shelf soon!

Legendary Creatures SAL - M & Medieval Shelf 10

Two milestones today! I finished January for the Legendary Creatures SAL - the letter "M" for Medusa:

Designer: Cloudsfactory

Pattern: 2018 Legendary Creatures Alphabet SAL

Fabric: Picture This Plus "Nocturne" in 32 count Belfast

Stitched: 2 over 2

Floss: DMC and Weeks Dye Works

 

Now I have to wait until February for the next part! I have no idea what the next letters are going to be or what they will stand for.

I was also home sick today, most of which I worked (of course) but I did manage to get a little bit of stitching time and finished up my ten hours on Medieval Shelf.

Before:

After:

Designer: Heaven and Earth Designs

Pattern: "Medieval Shelf" by Randal Spangler

Fabric: 25 count Evenweave

Stitched: 1 over 1

Floss: DMC

I'm going to keep going with this until a page finish and then rotate to... something else! Whatever H³ chooses!

Besides that just working away here per the usual. I'm feeling much better now than I was this morning so probably a good thing I stayed home. I always feel guilty because I think I'm not "sick enough" to stay home but ultimately it's probably a good idea and nobody really wants you to come in when you're sick and get everyone else sick.

Either way, I'll come back and post again in 10 hours' time. Until then, happy stitching, everyone!

Legendary Creatures SAL - L

So far in 2018 I'm keeping to my resolutions:
- I've lost 5 pounds so far (still going strong)
- I'm not working on the weekends (I keep myself very available Monday through Friday, often working until 9 or 10 every night)
- I'm relaxing more (took the day off Tuesday to take the dog to the vet and then I'm going to the spa)
- Stitch more (yes yes yes!)

There's a few more I haven't met yet, but it's only January 14th so I'm still hopeful.

Along the stitch more vein, the Cloudsfactory Legendary Creatures SAL has started with the first two letters (L and M since we're starting in the center of the fabric) having been released on the 10th. I finished L yesterday and today I'm starting M:

Designer: Cloudsfactory

Pattern: 2018 Legendary Creatures Alphabet SAL

Fabric: Picture this Plus "Nocturne" in 32 count Belfast

Stitched: 2 over 2

Floss: DMC and Weeks Dye Works

I'm also going to try to remember to do those little blurbs under my stitching photos this year. The next part of this SAL gets released February 1. I absolutely love it so far and am very, very happy I decided to sign up.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful 2018! Happy stitching!!!