WIPs and a finish!

I figured it's about time that I start to update this page with some of my WIPs, and I've got quite a few things that're unfinished - some are in the Naughty Pile and my not get done for a while, while others I absolutely love.

First up is a Tatty Teddy design by Anchor entitled Shower of Hearts. Stitched on 14ct Aida using Anchor threads. This was one of the first kits I bought, along with another two Tatty Teddies. I'm not entirely sure whether this is in my Naughty Pile or not, though - I hate doing the backstitch on Tatty Teddy, and the threads keep snapping, so I'm working on it veeeeeery sloooooowly. I mostly just want it to be done.

This is one of my more recent starts. I was absolutely desperate to start an HAED and I finally chose one of the free patterns, the Flower Bride SK. I really loved the colours and the soft tone of it, more than anything. Stitched on 28ct evenweave, 1 over 1, this is one of the first two projects I've ever done on an evenweave fabric, so it's kinda experimental, but so far I'm finding that I like the look a lot more than Aida. Fingers crossed that I might actually get this one completed some time in the future.

This one's been knocking around in my collection for a while, and before that, in my mother's collection. This is Textile Heritage's Scottish Thistle Needlecase kit, so it's very similar to the Textile Heritage needlecase I stitched for myself, except mine's lavender-y. 14ct Aida, some of it's three strands but mostly it's in one or two. I really love the pallate on this - it's all soft and pastel-y. This project's kinda on the back burner at the moment, since it's quite small and could probably be done in a couple of evenings, while I've got a significant amount of other projects that I actually have to get done, for whatever reason, so it could be a while before I get this one done.

This is another fairly recent start, and the actual first pattern I started on an evenweave fabric. I sorta stumbled across the pattern by accident while on Pinterest (as often happens) and I fell in love with the idea of it it immediately. It's by Hancock's House of Happy, and when finished, it should say "Mae Govannen", in Elvish, which roughly translates as "welcome". The original pattern called for greens, but I'm doing it in pinks and purples because fuck the system. 1 over 1, 28ct evenweave, etc.

This is one of the ones that I absolutely have to get done, because it's going to be a birthday present. However, it's not hugely complex, so I could finish it in a couple of evenings, but it is, in any case, a higher priority. Eventually it's going to say "Nobody Loves You", and it's going to my lil sis (and by the way you should go check out her deviantArt page because she's AMAZING). We sorta have this running joke where we insult each other with Portal-style insults, so this fit perfectly. This one's by nerdylittlestitcher over on Etsy, and I'm doing it on 14ct Aida. (Fiona, if you're reading this, hi!)


Now, this one, I'm not actually going to tell you what it is because that might spoil the fun. Over on Facebook, I've been gradually posting my updates to this and waiting for people to try and guess what it is, and so far, there've been some pretty good guesses. It's a wonderful design by Serenity Designs, though, for those who are interested, and if you like sewing, you should definitely go check them out, because there's some pretty cool stuff over there. This is on 18ct Aida, and I look forward to hearing people's guesses!

This one was a surprise find. I stumbled across it in a charity shop and immediately knew I'd have to do it. It's by Designer Stitches and entitled Blue Lagoon Dolphin, and consists of three panels like this (this is the middle of the three) with a different dolphin in each. The colours struck me as something that would go perfectly in our bathroom, which is sort of sea mist blues and greens. I put it to the side for a couple of months because it got a bit repetitive and the colours started to annoy me, but I might pick it up again soon, or at least get the frames of the three panels done because they're so easy on the eye and not too taxing to stitch (and all identical).

This one's quite a small one, worked on 14ct Aida. It was another charity shop find - I saw it while I was working at a charity shop and loved it immediately. It's part of a small magazine kit, and is designed to be finished as a notebook. The only part that remains to be done is the beading, but last time I tried to do them it went completely pear-shaped, so I gave up and it went into the naughty pile. Now I've dug it out of the box I might actually finish it off soon, but that depends entirely on whether I feel I can tolerate it - again, it's a case of once it's done, it'll be nice to have it done, but in order to get it to that stage, I actually have to do it. It's sat for a while, in any case, so maybe it's about time for it to come out of the shadows for a bit.

Next up is another kit that has been sitting sadly in the Naughty Pile for about a year now. Because I'm apparently completely incapable of counting, there are quite a few cock-ups in there that are small but will make a huge difference, so I needed to put it away before I either tore it up or smashed some poor child's head against a wall. This is part of a set of four Designer Stitches Winnie the Pooh kits I inherited from my mother (this one being, obviously, of Tigger), and it's stiched on 14ct. I aim to pick it up again soon, but every time I look at it I get angry again. Perhaps if I just unpick the mistakes, it won't be an issue.

I can't say much about this one yet, because it's a present for someone who may well read this blog, but it's a pattern by nichestitch over on Etsy that I'm doing on 18ct with one strand, a decision I'm supremely regretting. This is in the Naughty Pile because I'm angry at it for no good reason. I was originally aiming to get it done for last Christmas, but that's blatantly not happened, so who knows, I might get it done for Doomsday.


This is another one of a set that I adopted from my mother, and it's going to be Peter Rabbit, courtesy of Anchor. I love the way it's turned out, but the chart is a pain in the behind to follow because of the way the backstitch is indicated on it - it's not always obvious what colour goes under the backstitch because the lines are quite thick, and, depending on the colour, sometimes quite wavy. I think it might've sat in my Naughty Pile for quite long enough, though, so I'll aim to get this one finished before I become too angry at it to even look at it again, and it's quite small so it shouldn't take that long to get finished off.

This is yet another kit I've inherited from my mother's collection, and it's about a million years old, but I still like it... sorta. I suffered from Inability To Count Syndrome whilst getting started on this one, and whilst it's only small, this still pissed me off to no end so it's unofficially sat in the naughty pile for about a year or so. I think I'll try and finish it off soon because it's only small, and it has a half-brother kit that has fruits in it instead of roses, so once I've got them done, they'll at leat be done, and I don't have to think about them anymore. It's a Janlynn kit, but I don't know if it it's still being sold due to the age - in fact, I severely doubt it.

This kit I found while doing a charity shop run down in Southampton. I live next to about 10 charity shops, so on the way back from class, I occasionally pop in and see if they have any Tatty Teddies or cross stitch kits lying around. This was found on one such occasion. It's a DMC kit entitled Day Trip, and I can't work out what it's actually of, but it reminded me a bit of Venice, despite the fact that there's no evidence of Venice or canals anywhere in the work. I haven't worked on it in a while, simply becuase I've just had other stuff to be doing, but now I've dug it out again, who knows? It might get a bit of love and attention.

Now, for the finish! I spent so long working on this last summer and pretty much got it completed in about a month or so, save a couple of little bits, the backstitching and the French knots. I finished the actual cross stitching back in January or February this year, but finally, a couple of days ago, I said to myself, "Sod it; I hate backstitching, but Pooh is so easy on the eye that why the hell not!" and I powered through it all in a few hours. The feeling of happiness and relief when I tied off the last stitch was overwhelming. This is the second in the series with Tigger, and I eventually hope to get them all framed and put them in my future children's nursery.

So those are my WIPs, and soon I'll be posting the items in my stash that I haven't touched, of which there are quite a few. There are some that I know I'll likely never work on, so I might even think about giving some away. We'll see :)

Heather x