I DID IT !!!! - Gifted Gorgeousnes SAL February Update

Hello Friends,

Hope you had a good Valentine's day if you celebrate. Mine was good, we had cake and didn't have to cook as we had leftovers for dinner and lunch is arranged in office today 😁.

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I have been eagerly waiting to show you this , I finished my nemesis project .. can you believe it? I finished all the cross stitches on 19th Jan , still it took me 2+ weeks to finish the back stitching and lettering. Back stitching is not my fav thing about cross stitch projects. I always try to avoid it or do the bare minimum but this time I followed the whole pattern. Though back stitching on this piece is not very heavy, I'm happy I finished it.

Without further ado, I present to you "Most Beautiful Things " by Candamar designs(excuse the wrinkles).

Most Beautiful Things

Started on : 4-Mar-2016
Finished on: 6-Feb-2018
Actual number of days:134
Stitched on: 25 count vintage lugana
Floss used :Kit floss
Designer:
Pattern source: Candamar designs
Number of colors: 17
Design Stitch count:137 H*110W
Actual stitch count = 4* Design count
Type of stitches: Full cross stitch, back stitch
Number of strands used :1 for Full cross stitches,1 for back stitch

This project has lots of first :

1. First kit bought and completed which turned out to be stamped because I didn't read the description properly.
2. First project bought online/on facebook.
3. First time switching fabric in the kit.
4. First time using evenweave
5. First time making changes to stitch count- I was a novice when I bought this kit and decided to switch fabric. The fabric change meant 1 cross stitch on pattern= 4 cross stitch in actual.
6. There are few counting mistakes in this project and instead of frogging them I improvised around them.

It won't be exaggeration if I say this project was like going on crafting journey, learning so many things including patience. There were times I thought of giving it up, sometimes I hated it because of the mistakes but in the end the result is worth it, don't you think? I have grown up with this project learning to improvise and make changes.

I really hope my best friend appreciates the labour behind this gift, I will make sure she does 😉.

I also made two small gifts this month but will save it for the Smalls SAL post.

P.S. I have achieved 1 of the only two crafting goals made for 2018.

I smell a FINISH!!!

Hello friends,

This year again I'm participating in IHSW , as the SAL has been revived on blogland and facebook by Joysze at Random Ramblings and Jo respectively.

For those of who don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thur-Sat and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

Is it a coincidence or what that my first IHSW post in 2016 and 2018 have the same project? Or rather it is shameful that I'm still working on the same project since 2 years 😡.Well this shame is soon to end, I'm so close to finishing this project that I can feel butterflies in my stomach.

I added a total of 1168 stitches during the weekend . I could have done better if I didn't had to visit an ailing relative.

Some comparison pics:

A lot of white stitches were added in the bottom flowers which can't be seen in the picture which was taken this morning when it was still dark.

Thank you all for cheering me up for finishing this WIP thru your comments on my last post. All that is left is to add the greyish blue in bottom right flower, the wording in centre and backstitch.

Shall we say this can be wrapped during the week?

We shall see...

Gifted Gorgeousnes SAL January Update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I'm still working hard(ly) to finish my Candamar design project as now I have a deadline. I may be able to meet my bestie in February after 4 years and give her the gift .Every time I start stitching this project, it looks close to a finish and after few minutes I see new colors which need to be stitched. No wonder I call it my nemesis project.

I have added 1248 stitches since I last showed you but most of them are white so hard to see any progress.

Before

Right hand corner

Left hand corner

I made another small gift for a fellow crafter but I will save that for the Smalls SAL post. 

This weekend is IHSW and I will be stitching the nemesis project. Depending on how much progress I make, I will write a separate blog post for it or just post on facebook group.

December or January are months we usually travel to India , my home country, for our annual vacation. This time I wasn't able to go as I was short of leaves but hubby was in India for over a week and brought me lots of gifts.Amongst those is this custom desk calendar made from photos of the Flower of the month project I stitched in 2016. I love it.

That's it my friends, not much to show as I'm trying to finish the above project and until its finished I'm not going to stitch anything else.

I will be visiting your blog to see what gifts you are working on.

2017 Crafty wrap up and 2018 plans

Happy New Year friends

I hope you had good time welcoming the new year, in whatever way you did. I had a day off and we had a relaxing time at home and I tried a new recipe which was a success.

I have been reading everyone's wrap up of crafty finishes in 2017 and plans for 2018. I love reading statistics...numbers and pictures speak to me rather than just plain text.

Let's see how I did with my 2017 goals.

Goals for 2017

1. Dedicate more time for crafting specially on holidays/vacation   ✔ Non crafting reduced from 42% in 2016 to 34% in 2017

2. Try blackwork       ✔ Made a blackwork ATC for swap

3. Learn 2 new ways of finishing cross stitch ❌ Only one new way, biscornu

4. Pick fabric painting again ❌

5. Keep trying to crochet       ✔ Made a crochet hat

Plans for 2017

1. Participate in following monthly SALs

a) New Year New Start with Stitch Maynia (FB group)- I will start Dimension kit "Indian peacock" on 1st Jan 2017. ✔

b) Tour de Designers 2017 - SODA stitch with Stitch Maynia (FB group) - I will start "The Love Rain" on 1st April. ❌

c) Tour de Designers 2017 - Lizzie Kate with Stitch Maynia (FB group)- I will start "I Cannot Count"  on 1st July. ❌

2. Blog SALs/Activities 

a. I will continue to participate in Gifted Gorgeousness SAL . ✔ Yes managed to post all months.

b. I joined Kaye's Friday Frolicking somewhere near April 2016 but shamefully posted only once in 2016. Will try to post more often. ❌ Posted only once

c. Catch up posts for The Alphabet Club. Haven't posted about this since April 2016. ❌ Posted only four times

Apart from above I joined the blog- A New Stitchy Start 2017 and posted only once. I also joined Theme-tas-stitch 2017 hosted by Kerry in February and posted 5 times for the SAL.

Wrap up for 2017 

2017 was clearly a year of exchanges, I participated in 4 cross stitch exchanges and had fun making things for my partners. I enjoy the process of getting to know my partners, making something they will like .I had a total of 6 cross stitch finishes this year. 

I added 9844 stitches to the only WIP from 2016

Progress as on 14th December 2016

Progress as on 31st December 2017

My new year start will be the second WIP I will carry into 2018.

Indian Peacock by Dimensions.Design by Suzanne Nicoll

Knitting caught my interest this year and I learnt some new stitches .I had 9 knitting finishes, achievement being finishing my first baby blanket. Shown here are 5 which have already been gifted.

I'm very proud to say that I hosted a national level knitting event -WWKIP day here in Kuwait. The event was a huge success with considerable media coverage.

I also helped my friend Tammy with a cross stitch workshop for kids in December.

I'm more confident with crochet now and made one hat for hubby.

A little about how much I spent this year on needlework:

Cross stitching supplies                                                 $51.8

Knitting supplies including badges for WWKIP              $122.4

Needlework exchanges                                                  $36.9

Apart from needlework, I took a dig at a new hobby: Postcrossing. It involves sending postcards to random people in the world and bringing a smile to their face.

I finished reading 7 books this year.

Just noticed that my last post was 100th post on my blog. I would like to thank my readers who visit and leave a comment on the posts. Your comments encourage me to blog.

Goals for 2018

I have set simple goals this year to craft every day and finish the WIP from 2016

Plans /SALs:

My choice of designs prevents me from joining any designer specific SALs. As the idea of a SAL is to stitch along with other crafters, I enjoy stitching and posting for a SAL, when the host is involved. By now I know which are the SALs host who make special efforts to leave comments.

I will be joining following SALs this year:

1. Gifted Gorgeousness

2. IHSW

3. I may join an Instagram SAL called #gardengatesal later in the year.

I'm thinking of joining Smalls SAL as usually I stitch birthday cards all thru the year. Need to check what the perquisites are for this SAL.

I will also like to blog more often and leave comments regularly on blogs I follow.

So that's it my friends for 2017 and I hope you have lots of crafting time in 2018.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL December Update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info.

Also last GG check in for the year, where did the time go?

After finishing the knitted blanket, I picked up my nemesis project and have made some progress on it. I'm still searching for reasons why I wasn't able to finish it this year.

Yesterday night I found out that I have done a counting mistake in the left middle section where you see the blue. It broke my heart. I was already finding it difficult to continue with this project with small count fabric and the number of stitches. And then another mistake. But my very helpful husband tried to calm me down and said that the mistake doesn't effect the whole project , so don't frog . So I have decided to continue without frogging , will just not use the blue stitches as reference to stitch. But I will finish it one day.

Never one to give up easily, I tried my hands at crocheting again and made a beanie for hubby. Not bad for first time haan!

I have been using free time at work to knit small things like wash cloths. It gives me a feeling of satisfaction to use my free time productively rather than surfing internet .

On another note, I realised I have never shared the news of adopting a cat with my blog friends though I do post about her on Instagram.

We welcomed "Twitch" in our house in July and she has become such an important part of our lives. No day is complete without cuddles and playing with her . She loves to sit in my lap and contributes specialty fibers to all my projects.

Here she is posing with the cross stitch stash I bought from Michaels in New York in September.

Sorry can't figure out why this picture is rotated.

That's it my friends, I will be back with the yearly crafting report post soon.

Here's wishing my Christian friends Merry Christmas. Enjoy time with your family.

August crafting report

Hello Friends,

Wow its been more than a month I posted on my blog , I have been feeling so lazy to write a post, comment on blogs and craft .

Today is first day of 5 day long weekend here and I thought I will gather myself together and write a post at least on the last day of the month.

This month has been busy with deadlines at work, vacation planning and festivals. But there have been days when I had time to craft but I sat on the sofa wasting my time on my phone. At least I have started reading again and managed to finish 3 books this month.

Here is what I have to show for the Gifted Gorgeousness and Theme-Tas-Stitch SAL run by Jo and Kerry respectively.

As you know my craft group meets fortnightly and it has become a tradition to receive gifts from very generous friends every meetup. This is what I have received over last 2 months:

Gifts from Tammy: A card made using chain stitch crochet, a crochet bowl and a bookmark

Gifts from Z: Solar eclipse coaster, Friendship day card and tiny embroidery hoop kit

A market bag, belated birthday gift from E

My house is full of such crochet gifts now and anytime someone visits for the first time they can't help notice all the crochet/knitted/cross stitch decorations in the house, out of which only one is made by me ..ha ha

I have been trying to finish the knitted blanket for my friend's baby. The baby arrived a bit early but I started missing cross stitching after knitting straight for two months. I started a weekly rotation to get some progress on my WIPs, which worked most of the times.

Here is the how the blanket looks like as of today

Progress on the Butterfly Project I'm making for my bestie, see if you can see any difference from last time :)

I picked up another WIP "Indian Peacock" for the Animalia August for Theme-Tas-Stitch SAL. This project grows faster than others as it has lot of half stitches. Love the colors in this one.

I sewed two bags to hold my projects with help from my husband during the month

Bag to hold Qsnap of 11*17 inch

Drawstring bag to hold knitting projects

What a feeling it was to use fabric from my stash for making these bags! My fabric or any other craft stash isn't big but I start feeling guilty/bad if I don't use the stash after more than one year I have bought it. Does that happen to you? Do you feel guilty of not using every single thing in your stash?

Next month we will be travelling for our annual holiday , which means time for some exchanges. I have already committed for two swaps, may do some more...ha ha.

That's it my friends for this month, I'm really dying to finish some of the WIPs. Its been too long I had a proper finish.

I will try and leave comments on your blog this weekend , hoping the lazy spell gets over soon. 

Theme-tas-stitch 2017 : March Madness check-in

Hello Friends,

Another month has flown by... and here I am with my check in for Theme-tas-stitch SAL: March Madness being hosted by Kerry.I didn't forget to post about the SAL , I was trying to get a few projects started/finished for the check-in. I'm essentially a OAAT stitcher , so this theme was difficult to meet.

I don't how but the march madness actually made me mad. Ya real mad. Mr. Frog has been in the house , sitting on my shoulder and bothering me. First I had to frog 400 stitches in my Candamar project and that almost killed my mojo.

As if that wasn't enough , Mr. Frog decided to interfere in a very simple swap piece I'm stitching. I'm telling you never in the past I had to cut the thread while frogging...but this time that too happened. At least my ORT Jar is happy.

I started three new small projects this month , one is FFOed, second is finished(can't show as its for a exchange)  and third I just started today to show you guys.

Started :4th March 2017
Finished :12th March 2017

New start , 31st March 2017

ORTs from the swap project

Fourth project I worked on or rather re stitched on after the frogging was the Candamar design WIP.

Candamar Project

The portion circled black is off by 1 row but I'm not going to frog it. Portoin circled pink was frogged and restitched.

Not a very good report, but I'm happy that I stitched most of the days in the month which is shown in the monthly pie chart.

March 2017 Stitching pie

Change in plans

If you remember from my Jan goals post, I decided to start a Soda Stitch pattern for Tour de Designers SAL in April for Stitch Maynia FB SAL. This project also fitted the theme for Theme-tas-stitch : April Showers.

Well I have decided to withdraw out of the SAL and not start this piece. I have to work on 3 smalls in April, given my speed I know that will take the whole month. I don't want to start a new project and stitch it for a day and add to my WIP basket.

I hope you have a productive April stitching wise.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL Feb Update

Hello Friends,

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post and birthday wishes . My birthday this year was extra special  as my brother visited us here in Kuwait and we had a blast . We explored new places in Kuwait, ate good food and talked for hours. Isn't spending time with family the best way to celebrate a birthday?

I know I'm late for the GG post this month as I was saving the post to show you gifts I sent and received .

So here it goes, first are the gifts I received from my craft group for Valentine's day.

Starting from top: Crochet heart from Tammy, Middle one from Z, tiny yellow heart is my attempt to make a knitted heart and was given to DH.

This year I decided not to buy any stitchy gifts for my birthday as I'm trying to finish what I have in my stash. My humble stash of 3 years of cross stitching is nothing compared to what I see here on the blogging land but I have been trying to optimize what I buy and keep in my stash.

DH surprised me with this beautiful photo frame of my stitching finishes . I love it. I have been trying to make a dairy of my finishes with photos of projects and details, so this gift is right up my alley.In the center, it says "Wish you a stitchy year ahead"

Moving on to gifts made

Two small finishes for Tammy's birthday.

As I mentioned I have been optimizing my stash, I conducted a giveaway for a facebook group I moderate. Nothing fancy, few duplicate charts and patterns for cover kits I have stitched.

Last but not the least, is the gift I'm stitching for my bestie. Some progress since my last update , even though I made a big boo boo and I'm trying to work around it .

Bottom section

Top right

That's it for this month. Tomorrow starts March Madness for Theme-tas-stich SAL and I will  start a few small projects for that.

Theme-tas-stitch 2017:Focus Finish February

Hello Friends,

Its time for first check in for Theme-tas-stitch 2017 SAL. What's that I hear you ask? Theme-tas-stitch 2017 SAL is easy ,no fuss SAL being hosted by Kerry. Each month we are given a theme  and we choose a project which fits it.
The theme for February is Focus Finish . Work on a WIP in your stash that you would love to get finished.  When I joined the SAL I decided to focus on my Candamar Designs kit called Most Beautiful Things Picture, however I knew I can not finish it in one month. But I do want to finish this asap.

I have been able to add 2948 stitches since I started stitching for Focus Finish . I thought of tracking the number of stitches for this as it would give me a better perspective . Then I set up targets, 100 stitches in a week day and 400 stitches each day during the weekend. Looks easy right ...only if I stitch every day. I stitched 13 out of 20 days in February till now.

Here is a before and after picture.Sorry the pictures in night time under a lamp.

Before

After

If I would have stitched all days and met my stitch target , I would have completed the project this month.
However, I'm happy to report that I have reached the full width and height of the project.

Not much stitching will happen in coming days as its my birthday and Kuwait National day celebrations next week. This is my favourite time of the year in Kuwait with everything decorated with lights.

I'm off to check what other participtants have stitched.

It's GG time

Hello Friends,

I hope you had a good start to the new year . It's time for first GG update  of the year. What's GG you ask?

GG or Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is Jo's baby where we show what gift stitching we have been doing. These can be gifts received in form of patterns,kits,floss and fabric or gifts we make for others.

Here are the gifts I received last month and failed to show you.

I visited my family in India last month and somebody missed me.😁

Look what DH made me , a free hand embroidery piece . No need to say I love it ! I asked him how he made it and he showed me the steps :drawing the pattern, fitting it in the frame size. I'm impressed by the talent my man possesses.My late father in law used to embroider and I have seen some of the master pieces he has created. DH has been thinking of continuing with the craft his father did since a while, sorry I don't know what that embroidery is called in English.

I received a beautiful pin cushion with my initial from a fellow Indian crafter ,an extra she added as a thank you for placing an order.

Isn't this precious, infact too pretty to use. I will display this in my showcase instead.

Another new year gift from DH, some cuddly yarn and fabric 

He also bought me boxes to store my floss. Here is a picture of how all my floss away bags perfectly fit in these boxes.

I have been stitching the Candamar piece for my bestie and here is how it looks now. Even though this piece is a PITA , I love stitching this one.

I will end this post with a picture of the first sunset of year 2017, which I clicked while on the way to desert camp in Lahbab desert, Dubai.