I'll Be With You Every Step of the WIP

Here's the second day's update on the new gift project. I may not post daily updates here, as they'd get pretty bland after a while; however, what I'll probably do is post major updates to it. When I finish one side of the border, or when I add a new colour or complete one... things like that.

11-14-16

I think that having this table available is going to help keep me motivated for this project as well as for future ones. It's amazing what having a large, flat, open area to work on does to you. I no longer feel cramped, I have a place to safely store things away from a certain cat, and best of all, I have enthusiasm again. This will be my own personal space.

A New WIP

Yesterday, I started a new project. The pattern had been completed for some time already, but I had a hard time getting to a craft store to buy all the floss colours. Yesterday, though, I finally got the final colour I needed, and I also grabbed some 18-count fabric.

I was told that the sparkly thread is atrocious to work with. I didn't listen. The entire border of this piece is going to be in E321, a sparkly red floss. Wish me luck. The plan is to complete the border first, and then proceed on to the central bits, which should be far easier.

This is going to be a gift to someone.

Day One (11-13-16)

I've made sure to leave plenty of space for when it comes time to frame it. At least, I'm hoping it's plenty.

Day one involved cutting the fabric to the correct size, stitching what you see here, and clearing off a table to use as my stitching station. I'm not exactly the neatest of people, so my home is rather... messy. Cleaning off that table is something I consider an accomplishment.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll get back to work, and hopefully I'll be able to put up another progress picture tonight.

3.7 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 7

To top it all off, have a cute little green kokeshi, who incidentally sort of looks like Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls. Oops. Hope you had a great Saturday!

Pretty much all of the patterns this week have been simple ones. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy them, and I hope to see your finished product! Happy stitching, my friends.

3.6 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 6

How about a little Galaco to spice up your life? Galaco is one of my favorite vocaloids, alongside Lily and Kaai Yuki. Her hair is just gorgeous, and she has such a creative design! Her design deviates from the norm to the extent that I first thought she was a knock off character. But nope, she's official! And she's super cute!

Her hair reminds me of ice cream.

Her original dress is covered in a bright galaxy design, so I gave her kokeshi form a kimono that has a (decidedly less bright) galaxy-like design. The pattern took longer than I thought it would to make, though, as I'd started at around 8:00 PM and finished a little after midnight. Oops! I hope your Friday was a good one!

3.5 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 5

Here you go! A tiny little quickie of a kokeshi! With only six colours and 181 stitches, this one is sure to be quick and easy!

Don't forget that you can always swap colours, too!

I'll have to decide what to do for tomorrow and Saturday. I have ideas, but I need to narrow them down! I'll be working until 7 PM, though, so I won't be able to get around to it until then. Toodles 'til tomorrow!

3.4 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 4

Winter is quickly approaching, so I've made one of these kokeshi dolls to represent winter's arrival. The outline of her hair is a blend of steel grey and medium violet — use one strand of each, and use two strands for all the other colours.

I can feel the chill from here! Enjoy!

3.3 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 3

I spent far too long making this pattern, and then I sadly had to rush it toward the end. But I hope you enjoy this Hatsune Miku kokeshi pattern!

Not very many colours, so hopefully it's easy enough to follow without symbols.

This one includes half-stitches.
The backstitch colours are in order as follows:

• Hair outline
• Hair piece outline, sleeve outline, skirt outline, face
• Pink stripe in hair pieces
• Skin outline
• Blush
• Outline of teal bits
• Shirt outline

The regular stitches are hair, hair pieces/sleeves/skirt, skin, teal bits, and shirt.

3.2 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 2

This is a blonde kokeshi I designed. The pattern was made rather quickly, since I was quite busy today, but I'd sketched out an idea a couple of days prior.

Little swirls on her kimono...

She has a bit more hair than I'd originally planned for, and her body is a bit angular for what I was thinking, but it works. It's still pretty cute.

I have several ideas for the rest of the week, too. Tomorrow's a day off for me, so I'll probably spend a lot of it making the rest of the patterns. Happy stitching!

3.1 Little Kokeshi Week

The theme for this week is: Kokeshi!
Week 3, Pattern 1

Kokeshi dolls are so cute. I have a few of them lying around that I'd received on various Christmases and birthdays. I've got an older pattern of a kokeshi that will start the week off this time. I've remade it so that the format matches my normal patterns. Enjoy!

I couldn't tell you how old the original pattern is, but I'd probably say it's at least three years old. It's cute and simple! The rest of them will be brand new, and will be made with a variety of colours.

An Update

In late August 2015, I landed a job. In mid-February 2016, I moved. I have not had much time to do anything other than work. I've been trying to get back into a flow of cross-stitching, and so far, I've finished the border of one project I'm creating for a professor. The idea of having to update this blog was constantly in the back of my mind, and even if no one looks at it, I like to have something to update.

Oh yes, and I've made yet another pattern for a past teacher of mine... Unfortunately, though, the finished product will be over a foot in length if I use the fabric I currently have! I went to a store to gather all the floss colours, and of course they had to be missing one. They were also out of black, which is just ridiculous. I have to find time to go back out, buy the missing colour, and buy some 18-count fabric.

Somewhere in the move, I misplaced my current projects. Now that I've found them again, maybe I can shift my focus back to them! I'll be looking through my folders to see if I've made any new patterns, as well. Even if I haven't, Halloween is quickly approaching...! (I may also have old patterns I will bring out.)

I'll do another themed week as soon as possible. I have an idea of what it might be.