Slow Sunday Stitching

 I have finished all of the stitching for the Harbour Village Sampler. All that remains to do is add in some beads and it can be called finished. WOOHOO!!!! I am planning on doing the beads this afternoon when I know I will have good light and relatively steady hands for picking up the tiny beads. After that is done I can pull out the linen for my next project and get started on putting in the grid lines. But I am determined to get this one done first. I don’t want to take the chance of putting it aside and then not finishing it.

I will link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then get right at it. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’m still working on the Harbour Village cross stitch piece. It is getting so close now to being done. I’ve finished the picnic scene and also the border under it. The last border of the piece is now in progress. After this, I still have to go back and add in the beading on some of the sections and then I can call it done. So very exciting! I was able to pull out all the single threads I put in as a grid to follow to keep track of where I am in the pattern chart. It has paid off on the time invested in doing the grid numerous times as it revealed that I was a thread or two off from the pattern. It saves lots of ripping out time. 

I’m already planning for my next cross stitch piece. I went through all my baggies of linen fabric, really there are only 2. One with scraps from previous projects and one that had a whole piece. I’ve put it together with the threads I bought for doing the piece called The Quilting Bee. Unlike my quilts however, I don’t want to have more than one cross stitch project going at once. So I will persevere and finish this one.

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I don’t think there is a whole lot of difference between today’s picture and the last one I took..... not from a distance at least. Sometimes I wonder why I bother with all the backstitching details that don’t necessarily show. But I will never the less persevere on. Yet to be done are the details for the kayakers, their hats and oars and a bit more in the picnic scene. But it is almost there. I’m trying to figure out a Canadian flag to go on top of the gazebo pole. The pattern shows an American flag. It might be as simple as a couple of lines of red on either side of a white centre that has a red cross stitch in the middle of the white. Yep, that sounds like a plan. 

I’m linking up toKathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I am almost done with the cross stitching for the picnic scene. I’m down to stitching in the details and outlining. Maybe by this time next week this whole section will be finished. After this there are 3 rows left to do. And then I need to go back and add in beads to several of the rows where the stitching is finished but I left the beads off. I thought they might get in the way of the hoop. Then it will be time to start looking for a frame for it. I’m looking forward to having this done and hanging on the wall. It has been a truly enjoyable stitching project.

I have 2 more sampler patterns on hand from this designer, Victoria Samplers. If I remember correctly, before we moved I bought the fabric and threads for the project called The Quilting Bee. Think I will start that one next. 

I’m linking uptown Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

The end of this section of my Harbour Village cross stitch is getting closer. Depending on how much time I spend on it in the next week or two, it just might be done. I’ve started filling in the little bits where there are only two or three crosses of a colour before moving on to the next little bit of colour. There is still a fair amount of stuff left to stitch down at the bottom right and then some boats to add in and also all the detail back stitching. There is a reason it is called slow stitching and I enjoy it for that reason...... slow and relaxing.

We had thought of going out this afternoon for a walk along one of the rivers, and may still do that. Then again, laziness and a desire to stitch may take over. We will decide once we’ve finished lunch.

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I am almost exclusively working on my Harbour Village cross stitch as my hand work project these days. The intense village scene is almost finished. After that there are 3 more borders to it and it can be called finished, except for framing of course. That could be a bit of a challenge as the one place in town that I know of that did framing for cross stitch pieces has changed ownership and no longer does it. However, I just did a quick online search and there is another place in town that I can try, so I’m good to go. 

It is another gorgeous day out so I am going to make this a quick post, link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then take my stitching and myself outside to enjoy it.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 What a gorgeous day it is outside today.  A perfect summer Sunday. We won’t be going too far, since it is also a long weekend here so everywhere will be stacked with people. So once I’m done with this post my first task will be to check the garden for cucumbers ready to be picked and then I will pull up a chair on the porch and happily stitch the day away.

I’ve made great progress with my Harbour Village cross stitch. Most of the left hand side of the picnic scene is done. There are a few little things left and some outline stitching to do. But I’m going to work on the right hand side and get it done. The little bits of stitches that are left can be done when I’m using those colours on the other side. Then I’ll do all the backstitching and detail highlighting all at the same time.

I’ve also been doing a little knitting, mostly while down at the town playground while watching Abbie run and play with other kids. I’ve finished another wash cloth. I am working from a website I found many years ago that lists about 100 different stitch patterns. I go through them and look for designs that will work on limited number of stitches and then try it. I add the garter stitch borders to the stitch counts of the individual patterns. This is the second I have done from this site, found here.

I’m going to link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching before heading outside.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’ve finished my most recent pair of socks and have now decided to switch gears a bit in my knitting projects. I think I have enough socks to keep me going... someday I should count them..... then again, maybe not, I probably don’t want to know. So I made a trip 5 minutes down the road to my local yarn shop, Knitting Three Together. and picked up some cotton yarn for making wash cloths. They are quick and mostly easily done with not a lot of concentration. I’ve done 2 already just over the course of 4 evenings.I’ll do a combination of knitted and crochet. Knitted for when I have full ball of yarn and then crochet for the partial balls. 

I’m continuing to work on my Harbour Village cross stitch sampler. The hillside beach scene is starting to fill in now. The easy large amounts of the same colour sections are done. Now it is time to do the details with lots of colour changes which always takes longer but is so worth it in the end. 

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted, so I have some progress to show. I’m still working on the Harbour Village cross stitch. The harbour front picnic scene is starting to take shape. I’ve recently discovered a way to import the cross stitch chart into my iPad. I can keep it open beside me and zoom into the sections I’m working on which makes it much easier to see what I’m doing. Before this I had been using the chart on my computer and zooming in that way. But that was limited to times I wasn’t using my computer for other things, like watching movies while stitching. There’s an added bonus that I can take the iPad outside so I can now sit out on the porch and stitch.

My sweater is on a time out while I wait for an opportunity to wind up the last 2 skeins of yarn I need for it. Plus it’s a bit too warm these days to be working on a lap full of wool and mohair. In the meantime, I’ve started another pair of socks. 

And lastly, I’ve purchased the last 4 instalments of the Noah’s Journey embroidery quilt from Crabapple Hill Studios, found here. I’ve got the stitcheries traced and a few of them coloured and I’ve started stitching on one of them, brown bears and ducks. This is going to take a while to finish, but that’s the fun part of slow stitching, seeing the gradual progress towards finishing and enjoying the process on the way.

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching before going out to the porch with my cross stitching and iPad to enjoy the day.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I am making quite satisfying progress on my Harbour Village cross stitch sampler. I’ve finished 2 more rows and have started on the large village scene near to the bottom of the sampler. The first row I finished was a dark blue wave feature underneath the light houses. The next was a pulled thread with hem stitching done in white at the top of the pulled threads to give the design. The village scene is likely to take quite a while to finish. But I’m enjoying it so that’s ok.

When my eyes give out after stitching over small threads, I take up my knitting. The sweater looks mostly the same, but longer. It’s measuring 13 inches from the underarm now. According to the pattern it needs to be 14 inches before the bottom ribbing. Then it will be onto the sleeves. I love the way the colours are pooling. I was a bit concerned about the orange being over powering when I was winding the skeins into balls, but it isn’t overpowering at all.

I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I just checked the date of my last post and discovered that it was a month ago. WOW! I knew it had been a while, but not that long. I wish I could say I’ve been busy and have lots to show.... alas that is not the case. The opposite is true, hence the lack of posts. I’m running out of sock yarn leftovers, and so am working on the last of my “frankensocks”. This one will have 3 different yarns in it. I’ve got the top part done, using 2 different yarns and alternating the yarn every other row, similar to doing a fade type sweater.  The third yarn will be worked into the foot in the same way until I run out of the light yarn.

I did start a new sweater but have very little progress to show on it yet. It’s another of Valentina Bogdonova’s designs called Ariya that has the very complex lace and cable charts for the yoke. At least this one doesn’t also go all the way down the sleeves. 

I can only work on this when my concentration levels are good.

I also picked up my cross stitching again and made a little bit of progress. When I last showed it I was here. Now I have the lettering done and have started on the second lighthouse.

It is bright and clear and cold out here today. There was a clear cloudless sky last night. The moon was so bright that the trees were casting shadows. The sun is so bright today that it is melting some of the snow on our deck, even though it is -16C out there. Where it has melted there is fog coming off it, just in small amounts and not enough  to be able to capture on film. Just enough to be able to sit and marvel. We have some bird feeders out and are getting regular visits from blue jays, chickadees, nut hatches, gold finches in their winter colours and slate coloured dark eyed juncos.

 A group of friends and I are doing a UFO challenge. Last month I managed to get my UFO which was a temperature quilt started in 2020 all the way to having the quilting finished. Now it waits to be trimmed and bound. I found a fabulous fabric in my stash that was just waiting for its perfect use. I couldn’t bring myself to cut it up into small pieces. 

This month’s UFO is some very old bow tie blocks. According to this blog I started them in January of 2014 and did some monthly for a while during the Rainbow scrap challenge that year. Sometime during that year they got left by the wayside and languished in their bag until I dragged them out this month.  I am going to work with what I have and do a small 48x60 lap quilt. I think I ended up with 4 colours.... pink, green, bright blue and aqua.

And I think I am now all caught up on the not very much happening in our lives. I am going to link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 It’s a snowy Muskoka day today. A perfect day for staying inside, enjoying the wood stove and putting lots of stitches into slow projects. I finished my Anisia sweater this past week. I looked back through my blog, one of the reasons why I keep it up, in order to find when I started this sweater. I thought I’d been at it longer than this, but apparently I started it in October of 2021. So it took only 3 months to do. Somehow it seemed a lot longer than that. I love everything about this sweater. The detail in the design is fabulous. I love how the lace design at the neck forms little scallops. I will be doing more of her patterns for sure. Her name is Valentina Bogdanova. 

To give my knitting attention span a break, I started another pair of socks using yet more yarn left from another pair that I think ended up as a gift. With self striping yarn I often buy 2 balls of yarn. It’s easier to get them with the stripes matching that way. So there was enough of this yarn left for another pair. And if I do happen to run out before I get to the toes, I’ll patch in another colour.

I finally got myself sorted as to where I left off with my Harbour Village cross stitch yesterday and managed to put in a few stitches. The lighthouse is almost done. It needs some black outlining, but I think I’ll wait and do it all at the same time, since there is another lighthouse on the right hand side of this row. The lettering is done with one strand of floss over one thread of the linen, so it is going to take a while to get back into the swing of doing it.

I’m linking up with Kathy and the group of Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’m continuing to work on My Harbour Village cross stitch sampler. When I posted last week I was here. I’ve since made really good progress, finishing rows five, six and seven as well as doing the details up in the scene section where I had to add in the little boats and kayakers. I’m just now starting into row 8 which has a light house at each end and some text in the middle. The text says “ the peace of the hills is about me and the leisure of the summer clouds is mine”. Rather appropriate I think. 

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I have finished my In Friendship Sampler. 

I took the last stitches in it on Friday. I started it after we moved up here to Muskoka and we’ve been here just over 2 months. Not bad considering there are a lot of tiny stitches in it. We went out to a local art store in Huntsville that does framing and I chose a frame for it. So once the frame comes in I can get it done and up on the wall. The last bit of stitching was this bird holding a strawberry in its mouth. 

That strawberry is done over 1 thread. This fabric was 36 count, which means there are 36 threads per inch. My 4x magnifying glasses were essential in doing this whole piece, but especially that strawberry.

While working on the In Friendship piece I set aside the Harbour Village from Victoria Sampler. I also had to order threads for this one since I ran out of the black and the white threads needed to do a lot of the buildings. I ordered those at the same time as the threads for In Friendship so they would be here when I needed them. I suspect I am going to need more of the black before this is done. Of course I could always substitute something else. I’ll wait and see what happens. I could probably use a cotton black in places where it is the only stitching. I also have some of the Onyx colour left from the In Friendship sampler which is a black with tones of grey in it that would work for some roofs. I’m on a don’t order anything unless absolutely necessary diet at the moment, so that might be the way to go.

This coming week has the potential to be a busy one. There are plans to go blueberry picking and then make some blueberry jam on Thursday and Friday. Our grand daughter was at day camp all last week so we had a good rest. I think I am going to continue that resting today and quietly stitch some more on my village. My dear friend Susan and her husband were able to drop in on their way out to the east coast. It was so good to see them after way too many years apart. So much to catch up on even though we keep in touch through facebook messenger. It isn’t the same, but it is so much better than when they first moved and we were dependent on snail mail letters or expensive long distance phone calls. (sigh)

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’m continuing to work on my Harbour Village Sampler by Victoria Samplers. One of the many bonuses of doing weekly slow stitching posts is the ability to track a project’s progress. Last week I had the hills on the left side of the piece done. This past week has seen most of the hillside on the right done. I didn’t really think I’d gotten much done at all this past week, but comparing posts shows that I got a lot more done than I'd thought. There are blank spaces on some of the buildings waiting on a delivery of black floss and also white floss.

Our packing and getting ready to move is going well. Next weekend is moving time. It seems like it has been a long time coming, but at the same time it has gone by quickly. I will share pictures once we are up there. 

I’m going to continue on this project only for the next while since everything else is going to be packed away. Plus there is so much else going on, I think I might be easier to focus on just one project. The next time you hear from me, we will be in our new home.

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I have finished my Love Is Sampler. It is now folded carefully away. I have a frame for it already, but I’m waiting until after we move before I put the time in to get it into the frame. I bought short sequin pins to use for setting in onto the acid free foam core board. However, at the moment, I’m not too sure exactly where they are. In a box somewhere......

Here’s a picture of the whole thing and then close ups of the top section. I decided to place more words from the scripture passage into the box that describe what love does. and the bottom. 

After that was finished, I spent some time on my monthly Victoria Sampler piece. April is finished and I’m almost done the second instalment for May. 

And then I started a new piece. It’s called Harbour Village and it is also a design by Victoria Sampler. This one has a lot more cross stitch applied more densely than the other projects I have worked on recently so it is going to take a while. It reminds me of the town up in Muskoka where we will be living. Two more weeks..... We have most of the packing done and are currently living surrounded by boxes. The only thing left to pack up is the kitchen and personal stuff we need to live with between now and then. I am so looking forward to having this done, or at least this phase of it. We can unpack at our leisure once we are up there.

I am linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.