Blackman Street in London progress and the final post of 2019

Dear all

First up is the progress on the Blackman Street by Yiota's Xstitch ...

WIP 28/12/2019

I have made it to the top left corner of the picture. As a work in progress I am a little disappointed in the colour ... however I am hopeful that once it is stitched the colours would blend into each other a little better.

The other very small disappointment is how slow the project is coming along. Generally speaking my progress on the cross stitch has slowed down in the recent month or so. I have instead picked up knitting and daily yoga (or almost daily) in addition to reading, on top of a busy season at work.

As regards to 2019 ... I am grateful for restarting blogging in earnest and hopeful for an even better 2020. In addition, as I progress on my minimalist journey, I have also started with a huge endeavour - decluttering my hobbies, something I did not think was possible. In turn this made me stitch and knit more.

In 2019 I have managed to decrease my stash from 130 to 88 kits/charts by stitching/selling/donating. I may need to take stock to ensure that it is 88 as I think a few projects may have got missed from the initial list. (I will update the stash tab as it is a little messy).

By the end of 2020 I would like to decrease the stash to 50 projects! Anyone else in on such a stitching challenge? To decrease the stash dramatically and to stitch more in the process.

Anyhow until next year,

Lija  

A finish and a new start

Dear all

I can't believe I have not posted since November. Well, I have started the blog post ... but ultimately got sidetracked by other things and never finished. So her is to attempt number 3. As they say third time lucky.

This is an awful picture but here is 'Cardinal Winter' by Little House Needleworks complete. It was part of the Ornament of the Month 2011 series, No 1.

Complete - November 2019

In addition back in November I was visiting my sister ... who has awful lighting ... by which it is impossible to see even weave fabric, so I needed a project that used larger squares. So I started 'Blackman Street in London' (very appropriate as my sister lives in London) by Yiota's Xstitch.

WIP - November 2019

I am not sure I am a huge fan of the colour of the sky and not sure it does the image justice, but perhaps once it is all done it will make complete sense ... and I just need to have a little faith in the process.

So I am now down to 88 projects (from 130) and still many to go.

Until soon
Lija

A belated Halloween finish ...

Dear all

A finish ...'Scaredy Cat' by Love thy Thread.

I was trying to stitch it as fast as I could for the Halloween, however ended up a bit late on the finish. But here it is...

Complete - November 2019

It was stitched on hand dyed fabric (by us at ILiNi designs ...click HERE ). 

I believe I am now down to 88 projects ... and am slightly behind in my downsizing of stash. I am also at present visiting my sister, who has downsized her cross stitch chart and has returned a bunch of charts and kits I shared with her at some stage in the past. I think I will need to reassess my stash on my return home.

Until soon

Lija

Halloween is fast approaching ... part 2

Dear all

Some progress on 'Scaredy Cat' by Love thy Thread ... (the quality of photo is not the best).

WIP - 27 October 2019

With only 5 days remaining until Halloween... time is quickly running out. I'm really loving this project. The fabric used is hand dyed. 

Until soon,

Lija

Halloween is fast approaching ...

Dear all

I was hoping to finish stitching Tobermory, however got a little distracted with some other patterns in my stash.

The plan was to pick the next couple of projects to follow Tobermory; as I wanted to pick charts rather than kits I was unsure whether I had all the threads already for the projects. In any case I got a little bit excited about sorting out my stash.

Whilst sorting the stash I came across some Halloween designs I wanted to stitch up next. I then realised that if I continued with my then current project I would not have enough time pre Halloween.

So here I am ... 'Scaredy Cat' by Love thy Thread.

WIP - October 2019

With some stitchy luck I may be able to finish by Halloween. I have been stitching for a week and am about one third into the project ... so need to apply double effort across the next week. Fingers (or thread) crossed for me.

Until soon,

Lija

Tobermory - some progress

Dear all

Some progress on Tobermory ...

WIP - 13/10/19

I was a little bit disappointed at the progress I have made on this ... however I have only been stitching it for a week and two weekends. And to put it in perspective some progress has been made.

A finish would have been lovely. And perhaps this can be achieved in a week or two. I only have the boat, the water and some backstitching to do. We will wait and see.

Until soon,
Lija

Stitch before it's gone ... stitching from stash and lack of progress ...

Deal all

Very little progress on my stitching this week. I have been trying to stitch just a little every morning ... a sort of morning ritual. And this week it seemed either I started super early at work or had to travel for a day to London, or just did not have that much time to spare. So have been playing some catch up other the weekend.

Anyhow here is to progress however small. This is Tobermory by Susan Ryder (Heritage Collection). I started it awhile ago, but I do not think I ever photographed progress. I have decided to use my own fabric.

WIP - 6 October 2019

I am aiming for this to be my next win. By my plan I need to downsize four more projects this month either through stitching them or by saying good bye ... so I better get my head down and stitch. Here is to 'stitch before it's gone' my personal stitching challenge.

Until soon,

Lija