After a big journey around the globe I have my Ravenscroft Round Robin back home and she looks stunning. It is hard to fathom that she was sent off in January almost two years ago now but the work put in to her by everyone in the round robin is beautiful.

I have a long way to go before she is finished and no idea where in my stitchy plans she will fit but I will pull out the floss box I had for her and get everything set up so she can get a few stitches here and there.
The current plan is to stitch on her every time the girls and I get together for a stitchy day.. 20 stitches once a month and she’ll be done in no time LOL.

Any opinions on which sections I should stitch up first?? (After I finish the top one I started before she went on her journey of course).

So I am still stitching along, and have even been picking this up daily. I have managed to to finish weeks 15 to 19 now with only weeks 20, 21 and 22 (which is this current week) to go to fully catch up. I should be able to make my goal of being all caught up by the end of November is I keep at it.
This is about 2.5 pages possibly a little more and by the time I have fully caught up I think the third page will be polished off with a little done on page 4. I suspect I got lost in my stitch count a long the way with all the frogging I have had to do this week (unfortunately the shadow of some frogging is still visible on the piece but should be covered up with the stitching that is to go back in that area). According to my little tracker though I am at just over 25% none too shabby in my opinion… I might even hit 50% by Christmas.

Since starting my wip reduction plan I’ve been pretty good with keeping new starts under control for a while now.. and even my stash purchasing has been somewhat restrained. This however may tip me over the edge. It is an expensive project ($35US per month over a number of months) but oh so pretty. So far I have managed to resist but in all honesty i am not sure that will last. It is being offered by the ladies associated with the 17th century jacket project at Plimoth plantation and the needlecase is done in the elaborate style of the Stuart era.

For those of you that haven’t been following the wonderful work done on the 17th century jacket project obsessively since it started should really really head over and check out the blog. Not long now until the big reveal of the completed Jacket and outfit. I can’t wait to see the finished project it is bound to be breathtaking and I am so jealous of all the stitchers that have had the opportunity to work on this project as well as the people that will get to see this beautiful piece in person.

Believe it or not I have already done one of my goals for this month.
Jan’s RR is currently winging its way across the Tasman on its way home. I actually finished this Monday night but had to wait until yesterday to send it due to the cray Melbourne Cup holiday thing they have here in Melbourne.

Well everyone else has except where I work, although by the looks of the people walking around town that day, work was a safer place to be… so many scary dresses!

I think this is it now for RR stitching… well ok I do have a section to finish on miss fudgey’s RR because I only go tit half done before passing it on. She will come visit me again before she heads for her final trip home I think.

I did cheat a little with this one though as I didn’t want to hold her up any longer than I had to so I just did one of the little sections. My plan was to stitch an additional one if time permitted, but well an 8 day visit from my father and his partner really put paid to that idea.

The chart is  morning rose (I  think) by Linda Ravenscroft and is a retired design from HAED.  Stitched 1×1 of 25ct and sectioned up by the incredibly talented Nancy, who I think did the sectioning on most of the RRs for this one hehe.

Phew ! With the Halloween posts mostly done for now I can get my goals set down before the first week of November has been and gone.

November!!! This year has just zoomed past I’m sure someone has been stealing hours from my days and days from my weeks.

Ok onto those goals summaries.

October Goals

Stitching

• 5 Hours on Cirques Sure did (probably a little more than that too)
  
• Start the Pinn stitch kit Yep though only just I will try and get a picture of this up byt the end of the coming weekend.
• Finish page 3 of St Nick (sound like a broken record with this one) Arrrgh
• 6 strands into Sea Beacon no problems with this one
  

Knitting

20 More rows into the Jacket – This is a sort of yes, I got the roes done but made an error in the shaping so I had to rip them all back out again. I put this project to the side for now and managed to finish my falling water lace scarf in stead.

All in all no too bad when you ad din the madness of Halloween and the crazy baking that went along with it. I realised that my knitting projects aren’t listed on my wip reduction plan so my finish this month won’t count towards it but I am still happy to have one less project hanging around.
November is going to be crazy again with a trip to Brisbane for Mr B’s 40th Birthday bash, another little girls birthday cake (have started the fondant decorations fo rhtis one at least) costumes for the party, decorations and interstate planning. Add to that work is nuts and there always seems to be something else to get done and I am not so sure sleep will be on the agenda for November.

Regardless of all that though I am determined to set some goals and see how I go.

November Goals

Stitching

• Finish stitching in all the 939 on Sea Beacon
• Stitch my section of Jan’s RR and get it sent out before the end of the first week of November.
• 5 Hours on cirque
• Finish page 3 of St Nick – please!!!
• At least three lengths into the PINN stitch kit
• Post bramble updates each week and try to be completely caught up by the end of November
• Do the finishing on the Lesley and Colin trees

Knitting

• Signed up for the Nov KAL on the beginning lace knitters group on Ravelry. So start and make progress on the woodland lace shawl.
• Frog bak my diamond lace shawl wip and restart as the short sleeved version

Other

• Costumes for the sci-fi party
• Sci-fi cake
• Fairy dinosaur, butterfly garden cake

WIP project tallies (4 months since project Start)
WIPs: 28
Finishes This Month: 1 ( knitting project not listed on tally)
Finishes since project start: 2 (+1 knitting)
Items for finishing : 6
New Starts: 1
Planned Starts: 2

Wish me luck

With the last weekend of October being Halloween and my love of all things spooky… it is no wonder I am a bit late with my update this month. I have been trying to fit some stitching in when I can though and while there are no pieces to remove from my wip list this month I am happy with the way things are progressing.

First up is Sea Beacon, I have been working on her on the trains to and from work. I just section off a block of 939 then spend the train trip filling in as much of that space as possible. This strategy has worked really well and seen me finish a few thousand stitches in her in October. I am almost out of 939 on this page though and should see the last of it this month. At this point I don’t know which project will work best for this strategy in the following months but Violet Sometimes may yet see the light of day once more.

Next up a little bit of Bramble. I have been trying to work on this as much as I can and have managed to catch up on weeks 9-15 worth of stitching. This still leaves me about a month behind in ‘days of stitching’ but I am determined to catch up this month so that I can be on track for December. I have managed to catch up a few more days since this picture was taken and hope to be back to weekly updates on this soon. This is very close to page 1 and 4 being complete. (Reminder of details: Design by Ink Circles, The Bramble and The Rose released in the June Issue of The Gift of Stitching- also now available from Tracey Horner as a Chart- stitched 1×1 on green apple 32ct opalescent lugana from Silkweavers using Vikki Clayton silks in a custom variegated nosegay and old maid of the forest).

That leaves my other main focus for this month which was Cirque. I have been taking it along to the Stitch and Bitch at Morris and Sons in town each week. The reactions it has been getting I find really odd for a store that actually stocks needlework supplies. Mind you they are mostly focused in the DMC range I guess, but still.. the gasps and questions about where I find patterns like that etc are somewhat surprising it is not like Ink Circles charts can’t be found at a number of the stalls often at the craft markets every few months. I have been spreading the word about Sampler cove and Ink circles and the like though… and Vikkis silks, so maybe there will be a few more converts out there in not too long. Most of the S&B people are knitters though with a few ladies doing surface embroidery and the like. I tend to alternate between knitting and stitching from week to week depending on how I feel. Cirque has benefited from the attention though and I am now determined to try and see this completed before the year is out. It will be fantastic to have a larger long time wip actually completed. No idea what I’ll do with it when it is done though… probably just throw it in a drawer. Lol.

The top right hand circle is in the process of being frogged. I missed the last intersecting circle on that row and only realised when I went to infill and none of the smaller circles would fit… I had though it looked funny and kept checking the pattern but for some reason never noticed I was one intersection short. Next time I pick this up in my lunch break I will finish the frogging and set things right. I am probably going to outline all of the remaining circles (except the small infill ones) and the border before heading back to do all the fill designs. I think it will help in seeing progress and inspire me to to get it finished all the faster.

You may of noticed there is a piece lacking from my update… Dear old St Nick is still languishing on page three. I think that page is cursed.. or I am. I also haven’t taken a picture yet of the new start I had with the PINN stitch kit. Hopefully I will have an update of both of those soon but the progress is minimal enough to not warrant a picture at this point.

Phew … long update and I still have two more to write. thanks to anyone who stuck around to the end, it seems not updating for a while has left me in the mood to ramble. Next up Halloween baking update and my goals round up / new goals for November.

So… back at the end of August I mentioned that I had gone insane and had tentative plans to have ~35 new starts. Well the charts arrived this week and I thought I would share the impressive pile of name trees I now have staring at me from my shelves. There are 15 name in total that will be stitched in different combinations depending on the family the gift is intended for. It is  a LOT of trees but I think the overall idea will be nice as family gifts for Christmas… Just not this Christmas – Not even I am that insane-

I’m still working on fabric / silk thread colour combinations at this point. I am leaning towards ordering a bunch of antique white opalescent lugana from Silk weaver though. It has served me well for ornaments and the like in the past and will provide a nice neutral background I think but with a little treat form the sparkle.

Looking at eveything I have on for the remainder of the year and my urge to make significant progress on some of my longer running works in progress I think I will hold off until the new year before really knuckling down and getting a start on this project.

In other news I went along to a stitch and bitch at a knitting store in town last night (thanks to Nic for holding my hand because I’m a big fraidy cat). The women all seem quite nice and since it is in town it is easy enough for me to toddle along to after work on Thursdays. I think I will probably keep going, if not every week, probably fairly frequently. It is in at Morris and Sons on Collins street. The interesting thing was really the varied projects that everyone had, form surface embroidery, knitting and cross stitch (I took along cirques). The skill level of everyone was really varied too, which means we should all have a lot to share and learn from each other

So here we are again:

September Goals

Stitching

* Start (and finish) Colin Tree Yep, Yay for finishes!
* 5 hours on Ink Circles Cirque des Circles Yep though only thanks to a day off from work
* Finish that damn page 3 of St nick – Unfortunately not, I am still stuck in a confetti quagmire and don’t seem to be getting anywhere no matter how long I try and stitch on it.
* Order Threads for the A & E starts – Nope still debating whether or not to do a conversion to Vikki silks or order the original colours
* 6 strands in to Sea Beacon and many more too
* Catch up and keep up with Bramble -  This is sort of a yes and no. I have frogged out the mistake and caught up to where I expected to be at the end of august which means I am still a month behind.

Knitting

* 20 more rows on the jacket Yep and I finally got to the armhole shaping too.

Blogging Nope. I have discovered that I really can’t bring myself to blog about things that have already really been and gone. I am more a stream of consciousness blogger so I have uploaded all the pictures to my flickr account but won’t put entries up for them at this point.

* Upload photos from the events in august
* finish half written entries for above events and upload (backdated)

WIP project tallies
# WIPs: 27
# Finishes This Month: 1
# Finishes since project start: 2
# Items for finishing : 6
# New Starts: 1
# Planned Starts: 3

October Goals

Stitching

• 5 Hours on Cirques
• Start the Pinn stitch kit
• Finish page 3 of St Nick (sound like a broken record with this one)
• 6 strands into Sea Beacon

Knitting

• 20 More rows into the Jacket

Hmmm seems I only managed one small post other than my goals in September… so not really back on board with the regular blogging yet. Maybe this month will be better.
I do have a couple of pictures to show before I get into my goals for October.
These are pretty much where things were at as of the last day of September. And yep still no completion of page 3 for St. Nick. I was going to do a bit more on him yesterday as I had the day off just bumming about and stitching but… well I couldn’t find the chart for page 3. Seems no matter how much I try and organise everything I am always still misplacing the one thing I need LOL.

On to the pictures. I can’t say I am really happy with how these have turned out.. It was overcast this morning when I was taking them and the down lights here are horrid to take pictures by so they are a bit funny. Add to that the wonderful high quality nature of my new dSLR and you can see every fabric bump fold and crumple. I am going to have to start ironing my pieces before taking pictures if I keep using my big camera and that seems like a lot of extra work :p








An old, old friend also came out to play this month. I managed to finish one of the smaller circles and get a start on the fill in for the last nig circle. I think I will keep this one out and see how close I can get to finishing it before the year is out.





My New start for October. I promised to stitch this for a dear friend but got permission to switch out the fabric from the kit (Aida) for something else. I think a cream colour will work best for the place it will end up in but I have included some of the fabrics I am trying to choose from in the picture below. So far I am leaning towards using the second fabric from the left which is Queen Annes lace Jobelan in 32ct I think it will showcase all the colours nicely while providing a near cram neutral background with the slightest bit of depth due to the slight mottling of the hand dyed fabric.





Ok Back later for my goals round up.. Nic and I are off to the Art Gallery for the afternoon

A rare sight for me and it has now been witnessed two months in a row! I have another finish (yes it is small but still it’s a finish)

A few days later than goal for my SAL with little miss fudgey but things have been a bit hectic. It also never helps when starting a SAL to not be able to find your chart for almost a week… woops.
This is the ‘Colin’ tree that goes along with the ‘Lesley’ tree from last month. All I have to do now is decide on a backing fabric and how I am going to finish them… Current theory is oval ornaments with a nice corded edging, but I am still in the cogitating phase on that bit.

Although I do have a large pile of name trees to be done these are the only two I wanted to get done before this Christmas so my name tree binge is on temporary hold at the moment while I continue work on my wip reduction project. I also have an obligation type piece I need to get started and a few more gifts that while unlikely to finish for this year need to be started if they are to be for next year (those being the Letters by Nora ‘A’ and ‘L’).

My priority at the moment though is tracking down that evil mistake in Bramble and getting stitching along again.

As you can probably tell from my lack of posts and pictures things have been a bit nuts around here this month.
Nuts in a good way … mostly.
Visits from friends, more Melbourne madness and general business are the good parts. Work, thesis stuffs, house inspections and recurring sickness … the not so good bits.
What it has all added up to though is a severe downturn in stitching and blogging time. Even my bramble has suffered for the past week as I made a mistake and need to frog it but haven’t had the time to sit down and track out where the error is. Hopefully I can catch up with it this weekend ‘catch-up’ being a relative term.

So though I know it will be messy lets have a look at those monthly goals for August.

August Stitching Goals

1. Finish page 3 of St Nick and start on page 4 nope nope nope – I might have squeezed in 300 stitches 400 tops
2. Finish my Lesley name tree before 22nd of August Yes!!! Hooray – completed on the 22nd of Aug
3. Work on Rose of Sharon (5 hours) Funnily enough yes.. very early in the month (no picture though)
4. 6 Strands into Sea Beacon nope
5. Keep up with the daily stitching and weekly updates for Bramble and the Rose not since the mistake

August Knitting Goals

1. 20 Rows into my jacket Yepper – I even over achieved (30 rows with another ball started)
   
2. Finish one glove  Ummm – No

Final Tally 3/7 – not so grand but better than expected actually, and I had a finish!
My Wip project tally as of the end of august is:

• WIPs: 27
• Finishes This Month: 1
• Finishes since project start: 1
• Items for finishing : 5
• New Starts: 0
• Planned Starts: 3 (35) – There is insanity in the wind but I will post more about it once the actual charts arrive not sure if I even intend to start any of them this year hence the brackets maybe jan 2010.

So now for the far reaching plans for September – This month will be as bad if not worse than August with final printing and binding of the ‘T’ word to be done and two lots of visitors some via Sydney and a certain someone from Cardiff. I still plan to make some time though.

September Goals

Stitching

• Start (and finish) Colin Tree
• 5 hours on Ink Circles Cirque des Circles
• Finish that damn page 3 of St nick
• Order Threads for the A & E starts
• 6 strands in to Sea Beacon
• Catch up and keep up with Bramble

Knitting

• 20 more rows on the jacket

Blogging

• Upload photos from the events in august
• finish half written entries for above events and upload (backdated)