Smalls SAL

This month, I have made two Christmas ornaments, which will be Christmas gifts for my great-niece and great-nephew (siblings).  Had it not been for my commitment to participate in this SAL, it is extremely unlikely that I would have yet made a start on my Christmas gift stitching (I'd still be obsessively stitching on Christmas Dreams).  So, I am very happy to be part of this SAL.

I will be making at least one Christmas ornament until at least November this year.  Next month I'll be making ornaments for another great-niece and great-nephew (first cousins).

A page finish - and an intermission

My second page (page 45) of HAED Christmas Dreams  is finished.  Santa's hot chocolate (or coffee?) cup is quite clear now - even if sideways on the frame. I'll take a little break now, to stitch an ornament or two. I think I'll start with some free-form Christmas Trees - my favourites.  No chart required, and I can use the floss in my basket, so no kitting up.  Hopefully I'll have a couple of finished Christmas ornaments to show by Thursday, for the Smalls SAL.

Gifted Gorgeousness - January report

I'm a little late for this first report of the year - I do hope that's not going to set a precedent for my reporting.  I was so engrossed in stitching my Christmas Dreams that I didn't start on the Christmas ornament (a Christmas gift for a close friend) that I had planned to stitch this month.  Then I remembered that I had actually purchased the chart, fabric, and some of the floss for Christmas Dreams using my birthday money - so I think I can sneak Christmas Dreams in as a GG project, even though it is actually an indulgence just for me!

I started Christmas Dreams on January 1.  There's a picture of  Christmas Dreams (as mine will look - hopefully - sometime in the far distant future) on the right hand side-bar. I'm stitching mine sideways, which is a slight chalenge to an older brain.  The chart is full of upright, downfacing, right, left, heavy, light arrows and other ambiguous symbols.  Luckily I ordered the large print charts, and so far I have only had three lots of symbol errors, all easily fixed. Because it's a sideways stitch, I started at the bottom right hand corner of the picture, which was a partial page.  I have stitched that one and I'm a bit over halfway through the second page - I've reached the end of the second page at the  bottom corner.

Here's where I am up to now:

HAED Christmas Dreams (Gelsinger/Sayetta) Jan 19 2016

I am hoping to working on page 3 at the next GG report.

I plan to stitch some other projects this year - all will be gifts, so I'll be posting pics each month - if things go as planned!  I have a list of my 'to do' stitching list in the right hand sidebar.

A new journey begins ...

I have started the New Year with a new project - HAED's Christmas Dreams (artwork by Dona Gelsinger, cross stitch adaptation by Michele Sayetta).

It is the largest project I have ever undertaken. I am stitching on 22 count, so the finished design will be 72 cm wide x 48 cm high (28.5" x 19").  I was quite daunted when I downloaded the chart, and got 74 A4 pages printed.  Luckily, there were only 66 pages of chart.  My floor frame wasn't wide enough to accommodate the fabric, so I have turned the project sideways. I started my project at the bottom left hand corner, on chart page 56, which I have just completed, and I have now moved on to page 45.

Christmas Dreams, 10/1/16

My aim is to complete a page a month this year, and also to stitch one or two Christmas ornaments per month.  It's pretty fluid.  I'll see how it pans out!