Medieval Shelf 16 (Page Finish)

 I was stitching away late into the night last night thinking maybe I could finish the third page of Medieval Shelf but around 11:30 I gave up and decided I valued sleep over a page finish (blasphemous, I know). But I finished this page by 10:00am today! So here it is.

Before:

After:

I've been jumping around pages a bit on this project so I'm not sure where I'm going to go next but once I decide I'll go ahead and grid the page and then move on to my multitude of Christmas stitching and baby blanket knitting. And since I have the day off I'll probably also be playing extreme amounts of video games today.

So much to do!

Stay safe and healthy and happy stitching!

Medieval Shelf 15

 Did my first installment of the new rotation! 

Before:

After:

Didn't finish the page but that's okay. I have come to realize that I've been treating stitching (and my other hobbies) like goal-oriented obligations. Yeah, I want to finish my projects and make progress but at the end of the day I'm doing this hobby to relax and I haven't been feeling relaxed while stitching for a while, just stressed out about "meeting my minimum." So I'm trying to chill out. 

Everyone, be kind to yourselves, and happy stitching!

Once Upon a Fairy Tale (SSMC) 5 & Medieval Shelf 14

So apparently I never posted the halfway point of Medieval Shelf and although I've surpassed the halfway point, I might as well post where I'm at now before I finish the page.

Before:

After:

Next, Lesli and I did our July SAL so here's the progress for that.

Before:

After:

I'm really hoping to be able to finish this page on the next go-around, but we'll see!

Unfortunately for July, my stitching bug completely left the building and I had trouble bringing myself to do anything including reading, writing, diamond painting, running, video gaming, pretty much anything. I think I'm at the point of burnout with work and life so I ended up taking a week off in August. Hoping to get some good stitching done but also take care of life stuff like car maintenance, etc.

I think I might switch up my rotation to keep my stitching bug going. After discovering that I enjoy the 7-day SAL immensely, I'm thinking a 7-day plan for my WIPS with the last 7 days of every month reserved for my SAL. I'll have to fudge the plan a little bit for flexibility but I'm okay with that. So I've got a calendar open right now and I'm moving stuff around and plotting things. Maybe you'll even see more WIP posts. We'll see!!

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy and, until next time, happy stitching!

Medieval Shelf #13

I'm not a very good blogger anymore. Work took over my life and I've been making baby blankets like a fiend and haven't had much time for stitching. Plus I think my stitching bug left me for a time. But I went to HAEDcon this past weekend and it reignited the stitchiness so I managed to finish page 1 of Medieval Shelf. I think I'm going to give this to my nephew when it's done. Should be done just in time for his 18th birthday.

Before:

After:

I definitely had a brief fear that my corners weren't going to match, but they did!

HAEDcon was great. I drove from the Bay Area all the way to Seaside, OR up 101, which took just about 15.5 hours. I was hoping for great ocean views and got nothing but fog all the way from Eureka north. Coming back I drove through Portland and took I-5 South so it was only 11 hours. If I can go again, I will fly.

Other than that I got to meet some really awesome artists. Randal Spangler, Jeff Haynie, Hannah Lynn, Aimee Stewart, and Rob Carlos. Michele and Bob Sayetta were also there, of course, which was a treat. I got to meet Lesli, who I've had a blog friendship with for over half a decade and only just met her last week. It was wonderful. Besides the stitching, the artists, and the people, I got to spend a week vegging on the beach, eating fish and chips on the sand, and drinking wonderful coffee. All in all it was great. I started David Hoffrichter's "The Wizard's Implements" per the direction of H³ and will show off a photo of that once I've made about 10 hours of progress. I'm stitching it using Extreme Cross Country (ECC) which I've wanted to do for a while so I'm excited for that prospect.

I'm also considering buying an iPad to aid in my stitching. I know it may sound crazy but I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to stitching and all my charts are being printed on paper. This is starting to feel wasteful and inefficient and I think having an iPad, EZ PDF Reader, and a nice stand would aid in the situation. And maybe save my eyes the trouble of staring at a tiny chart. Net, I think it would be a good stitching investment.

Anyway, I hope to blog sooner than 3 months next time. Until then, everyone, 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 - 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!

Library Adventures - pages 22-24!

Another page bites the dust!

Before:

After:

The partial pages go by real quick! And now H³ has picked the second Icelandic chicken to be stitched next, so that's coming up!

I had my review at work today and it went very well. Things were kind of up in the air about whether or not I was going to stay. It all depended on what happened at the review. But I talked to someone a few weeks ago about my concerns and things fell into place today so I'll be staying a while longer, despite the crushing amounts of work. At least I'm finally at the point where I feel my compensation matches what is expected of me and I feel pretty good about it. Finally. There will be no fancy dinners to celebrate, however, because we're saving up to buy a house. And if I have anything to say about it, we will buy one as soon as we fiscally can. Today made that all the more possible.

So, with that, I'm off to work more (at 9:30pm... sigh) and happy stitching everyone!

Library Adventures #7

Here's one I haven't worked on in a while, although that can probably be said of most of my WIPs at this point: Library Adventures by Randal Spangler.

Before:

After 10 hours:

I have missed stitching so much and now that I'm back into it, it feels so good. I usually knit during the week after work if I have time for it. I'm training for two half marathons right now and possibly a marathon so sometimes I get home pretty late and by the time I settle in it's usually too late to pull all my stitching out. But I can pick up with my knitting where I left off and then have little stitching marathons on the weekend.

I actually took a personal day on Monday (I paid for it Friday night and I'll pay for it again on Tuesday) but it got to the point where I just needed a day all for myself with no work. I have already booked a mani/pedi for Monday morning and then I plan to do some shopping, maybe hang out at a coffee shop and write for a bit, and stitching until I can't see straight. Throw some video games in there, too. And today I have to go for a run, hit up the BevMo $0.05 wine sale, and then we're going to go play board games at a friend's. Stitching now while my breakfast settles before going out for a run.

All in all, life is pretty okay right now. Work is still work and there is SO MUCH of it. I can't keep up. I think one of these days I'm just going to have to work until I get through everything in my inbox and then it will feel like a fresh start. Right now I have so many things outstanding my head is spinning.

One thing at a time.

Happy stitching!

Medieval Shelf 9 - Page Finish!

It took me a while but I finally finished my page of Medieval Shelf, and only a month late for the challenge!

Before:

After:

I have to say that I just LOVE the colors here. H³ got me through the finish line by staying up late with me as I stitched last night, then waking up early to walk the Beast and by the time I got up the Beast was walked, fed, and there was a steaming hot cup of coffee waiting for me. Suffice it to say I slept three hours longer than I usually do. But I have a page finish!

Medieval Shelf will be put away for a little while and the Flapping Parrot will be picked up for another page. After that, who knows! Now that I have College finished the rotation is slightly different. I have all the projects I have on the go printed out into little pictures and I lay them out for H³ to pick from, and that's how my next project is determined, with a page from the Flapping Parrot in between as it's my focus piece.

So that's the plan for now! It's a stitchy weekend for me - I don't have to work - so off I go! Flapping Parrot, here I come!

Medieval Shelf 8

Well, I didn't make it in time for the challenge. I ended up working about 14 hours of overtime in the span of a few days due to a huge project. My days looked something like this:

Get up at 5, log on, work from home.
Leave the house and get to work by 8:30.
Stay in the office until 8 or 9.
Get home about 9:30.
Work until 1:30.
Rinse, repeat.

Longest two weeks ever. But it's over now and I'm back to my regular work schedule. I don't mind working overtime but I only do it when I have to. Maintaining a healthy work/life balance is extremely important to me. So, until the next project (inevitably) comes along, I'll be working normal hours and coming home and stitching.

Another 10 hours of stitching and I'm really close to a page finish. But I'll be good and post a photo now instead of just stitching through because who knows when the next burst of overtime will be and how long it will take.

Before:

After:

Almost there!!

I hope everyone state-side has a great (and safe) 4th of July! H³ got our beastie a Thunder Shirt to help her get through it. The neighbors have been at it for two days now and she's completely passed out in her Thunder Shirt so I think it's working:

Happy stitching, everyone!

Medieval Shelf 7

Here is a renewed attempt at posting stitching progress per 10 hours of stitching. Once a week just didn't work for me (as we can obviously tell) just because some weeks are better than others when it comes to stitching progress. But maybe 10 hours will work this time. Maybe. We'll see. Now that I'm not crazed to try to finish something (like College) within a given amount of time maybe it will be easier to keep on top of? Maybe. We'll see. Either way here's my 10 hour before and after of Medieval Shelf:

I always feel like I never get anything done in the time I stitch and then I look at the comparison photos and actually, quite a bit gets done. Amazing. Either way I likely won't make it in time for the June 15th deadline and I've rather come to terms with that.

H³ takes the beast to the dog park 3-5 times a week so she can get her zooms out, as we call them. She's still pretty energetic despite having slowed down and it's great exercise for her. Then she sleeps all day. So mutually beneficial for all parties involved. She could use the extra socialization, too. Win win. But lately she has come to expect it. So around 9:30, when H³ usually takes her, she starts to stare at him. Follow him around. Whine. And she doesn't stop. It's the saddest thing ever. 

I feel like we adopted a furry toddler.

Medieval Shelf 6

How did I manage to skip all of May? Part of it is, I think, working a lot of overtime. The last week of May I had a due diligence assignment and was working roughly from 8:30am-11pm every day. Then I turned in my findings and H³ and I went on vacation to Chicago for a week, which was a good time. No stitching, though, as we didn't check any bags and I didn't want my stitching tools to get confiscated by TSA. Besides, I wouldn't have had time to stitch as we were so busy visiting museums, eating deep dish, browsing book stores, and generally relaxing.

Back at it, now, though. The HAED second challenge ends June 15th and I don't think I'll make it, but it's not stopping me from trying. I might skip the next challenge, despite not knowing what it is yet, to get some stitches in on other projects. But we'll see how I feel when I get there. For now, here's my draglet progress so far.

Before:

After:

I think it looks pretty good so far. The little dragon is really coming into focus and looking more adorable.

Here are a couple of photos of the Chicago skyline from our vacation:

And, of course, a photo of the furbaby, who just turned 11 months. She has calmed down substantially, is far more obedient than she used to be, and is even starting to warm up to strangers we meet on our walks, though children are still strange and suspicious beings she wants nothing to do with (and I don't blame her). Here she is in a desperate attempt to get to whatever it was I was eating:

Happy stitching, everyone!

Another HAED Challenge

The challenge this time around is not much of a challenge for me since it's the way I always stitch anyway. One full page, one color at a time via cross country stitching.

Before:

Now:

As you can see, H³ picked a page with a dragon on it, so it's super fun to stitch and see him appear.

Not much besides that, except I got a promotion and a big raise! I found out at the beginning of April, but they didn't announce it until yesterday. So I'm no longer a Corporate Practice Assistant but am now a Corporate Paralegal. Moving up in the world.

Have a great weekend everyone and happy stitching!

Medieval Shelf #4

Heaven and Earth Designs has put into place a set of challenges for 2016, and I have decided to participate. I have a very specific way I like to stitch so I dedicated Randal Spangler's "Medieval Shelf" to completing the challenges, since I have started it but haven't stitched much on it.

The first challenge was to stitch 10 10x10 squares in a diagonal pattern. You can stitch in any direction you want, but the squares have to be touching each other on the corners.

Before:

After:

This wasn't really my style of stitching, but it's kind of fun to see sneak peeks of the pattern coming out. Some curtain, some books, a sash, the trophy cup with cookies in it. I'm putting this away for now but it will come out again at the time of the next challenge. Props to H³ for helping me pick which square to stitch next.

My stitching has been all over the place since I finished College. I've been incorporating a lot of knitting and crocheting projects I've been ignoring as well. The other stitching project I've been working on is the flapping parrot, but I'm so close to a page finish on that I'll just post when that's done.

Other than that it has just been my regular life of work and running after the dog. She's a bit of a menace. But she is still a puppy (about 8 months old now) so that's to be expected. Calming down every day and whenever I go to the dog park and see how crazy the other puppies are I'm pretty happy that her energy levels aren't quite that high.

So, with that, happy stitching, everyone!

Library Adventures pages 23-24 finished!

Don't get too excited by the title, this is the project that I'm working from the last page (24) to the first page. So that means there are two pages complete now, and both of them are partial pages so I kind of feel like I'm cheating.

Before:

After:

I have to honestly admit that this is a little more fun to stitch than College as it has a nice dose of both blocks of color and confetti, neither one being too much, whereas College is pretty much all confetti. I'm getting a little bit of blocks of color on the part I'm working on now but I think that's because there's sky in it.

H³ has chosen Middle Earf to be the next pattern I work on, so I'm going to pull that out as soon as I finish part 2 of AAN's Halloween Mystery SAL which ended a long, long time ago but I'm still working on because grad school stole my life. It's a fun little pattern though, so I want to finish it for Halloween this year.

The movie theater near our place here has a discounted day on Tuesdays so H³ and I decided to go see The Imitation Game, which I've been wanting to see since the teaser trailer came out months and months ago. I must say that I found it to be quite a good movie (and no, not just because of Benedict Cumberbatch. Stop laughing, Jo!) and H³ enjoyed it as well. I thought it was well written and well acted. I don't normally get emotionally pulled into a movie. Most movies are too short for that. Mini series work better for me in that regard, as do TV series, but I found myself extremely emotionally involved with the characters in this piece. Perhaps because it's based on a true story. Either way, I thought it was quite good.

Off I go now, happy stitching, everyone!

Library Adventures update 5 and College update 66

I have had multiple friends and family members announce that they're pregnant in the last two weeks, so I've been knitting baby blankets like a fiend. But I have also been stitching like a fiend. Library Adventures shows more progress, I think, even though I've put more stitches into College. Either way, here's an update on both.

Library Adventures before:

Library Adventures after:

College before:

College after:

There are about 2790 stitches left in this page of College and 1028 stitches left in this page of Library Adventures. So far I'm on track for finishing this page of College by January 7 and Library Adventures by December 31.

The last couple of days haven't been super awesome. I'm pretty sure I got sick and at the same time got food poisoning so I've been trying to pull myself out of both. So for the past four days I've had a constant tension headache as well as a sinus headache, nausea, ringing in the ears, and just a general feeling of grossness. A friend of mine was also in a bind, needing someone to take care of his dog for three weeks while he went home for Christmas break. He wanted to take his dog with him but his mom wouldn't let her (the dog) into the house, so we took her in. She's very sweet and seems to think she's a cat. But that's just an added responsibility, which I think has contributed to the tension headache. Add caffeine withdrawal symptoms as I haven't had coffee since food poisoning and general symptoms that go hand in hand with not eating for four days and I'm kind of a mess. I went for a short run yesterday and I'm trying to eat again but I still feel a little queasy. Hopefully I'll be back on track in a few days.

Christmas is coming, too, and that's always exciting. We've been cooking for a few days, H³ was on Pierogi making duty, my mom made cheesecake and Bigos, I just started soaking the beans for some Ukranian Barszcz. But there's still a lot more to cook.

Anyway, now that you know way more than you need to about what's going on in my body and my kitchen, I'm going to go be a slug and stitch. Happy stitching, everyone!

College 65 and Library Adventures 4

Updating on two projects today! It's kind of fun working on multiple projects at once. I'm trying to keep up on my "daily quota" of College to finish it in time but I also want to work on my other projects because I love them. So I work on College for a little bit and then move on. So, without further ado, here are the results.

College before:

After:

Just over 2,000 stitches total in on that one and you can see outlines starting to come in. I think it looks pretty neat!

Library Adventures before:

Library Adventures after:

Not as much done on that one but starting to put some more stitches in.

I finally finished the scarf for my flower girl, but I have to block it so once it's done I'll post a photo - likely in next week's post. It came out pretty well but I must say I hate grafting. So I will likely not be doing that again if I can avoid it.

Not much else to report here, I'm sorry to say. Got my informational e-mail about the half-marathon so training is going strong on that. I'm slowly getting better but I've discovered that the secret of my success is in the music I listen to when I run (the Thor 2 and X-Men: First Class soundtracks are particularly good at cutting my times, believe it or not). I'm also trying to figure out this whole inner peace and positivity thing. Sometimes I feel like I've nailed it whereas other times I sit there wondering what it is I'm supposed to do and how. Just gotta keep working on it, I guess!

Happy stitching, everyone!