A Very Merry Belated TUSAL to You!

It's been, shall we say, insanity at work the last month or so.  Too many projects, not near enough people.  I think I missed last months's TUSAL completely, so today's picture is 2 month's worth of orts.

 

All that black is from my latest start: Ink Circle's BoINK.  I started with the black outlines and I've used up most of a brand new skene already and I'm only through the top third of the pattern.  You can also see some sparkly #4 braid from the latest step of Shenandoah Spring.

288 Squares of 604



Shenandoah Spring DebBee's Designs

I am so over DMC 604.  Seriously.  Our time together was special, but now we must both accept that it is time to move on. 

Well, hello there, Kreinik #4 Braid.  Come here often?

Lots and none at all

O hai!  It's TUSAL Time!  Here's where we stand as of last night:


Cat Inserted For Scale

That sad little pile is all I've collected in the past month.  The thing is, I've actually done quite a lot of stitching.  I just seem to have ends long enough to continue stitching with most of the time so they get wound back on the bobbins.
The projects contributing to that sad little pile:



Shenandoah Spring - DebBee's Designs

Where the squares stop is where my skein of DMC604 ran out.  The brand new, just for this project and no other skein.  Since these stitches used 3 plies, that means there's 16+ yards of pink in those squares.  I won't lie--I eagerly anticipate the end of the DMC604 squares.

Spring Alphabet - Lizzie*Kate

This one is coming along nicely.  I'm still loving the bright colors!  I was mistaken last time in that I have changed one of the colors.  I am stitching this in the DMC substitutions and the two greens were too close for my liking.  So I changed the lighter one to another color that looked (to me) more like the one in the picture.



Cross Stitch Clock - The World of Cross Stitching #177

Blue!  That blue circle is where the clock bits go when this is finished.



Alphabet Blocks - Carriage House Samplings
1 over 1 on 28 ct Tan Linen

Yep, you read that right--1 over 1 on 28 ct.  This is the smallest count I can stitch without magnification.  Still need a hella bright light to do it.  I'm stitching it in the DMC colors, but I'm totally copying the cover model and using WDW Whiskey for the backgrounds of the words.

I'm still dithering over whether or not to restart America Land That I Love.  I did purchase a new piece of fabric for it.  But I haven't taken the old one off the scroll rods yet.  So...I dunno.

TUSAL and WIP Report

It's the first TUSAL report of 2012!  Not a lot so far, but I've not been stitching much. 

TUSAL - January 2012

Mostly reds and pinks from my Needlepoint project.

And now for the WIPs which contributed to the ORT jar:


Shenandoah Spring by DebBee's Designs - Red Colorway

I confess, when I first saw this pattern in the blue/green colorway I did not care for it (and I am so very much a blue/green person).  I think maybe because with the teal-ish canvas I couldn't see the stitches very well--it all kind of blended together.  But when I saw the red colorway at my LNS I was all over it.  The contrasting canvas makes the stitches pop (at least to my eyes).  This is my first "real" needlework project and I was a bit intimidated by it at first.  Her instructions are really easy to follow, though.  I'm enjoying it immensely despite the monotony of the current stitch.  There are 4 rows of that pink stitch all the way around the center square.  I will be a Laying Queen by the time I'm finished with it.  :)



Cross Stitch Clock - The World of Cross Stitching #177
2 over 2 on white 28ct evenweave

I started this one last year, got a little way in and then put it down.  I'm not sure why because it's a really pretty design--bright and happy!  I guess I was waiting for the dreary days to return or something.  Now I'm really digging it again.  Because it's bright and happy!



Spring Alphabet - Lizzie*Kate
2 over 1 on 16ct oatmeal Aida

After the fiasco with the Winter Alphabet, I decided to move on to the next season.  Again, bright and happy, yay!  I don't think I've made any color changes this time.  This is my Ghost Adventures stitch project.  The Friday night marathon is long enough that I can get 3-4 letters done. 




 And here is my first finish of the year.  This is from a British cross stitch magazine, but I forgot to write down which one and which issue (and it's at home).  Sometime this week I need to put it in it's frame so I can bring it up to work for February.