Wednesday, January 28, 2015

What a month

When I started Shakespearean Fantasy it went so well that I was SURE that I would have amazing progress to show for this month's check-in. You know that saying about plans? Yeah, that happened. I have done so little stitching this month that you would think I am in a major slump but life just completely got in the way of anything other than the fire that needed to be put out at the time. I do think that things will settle down enough in the coming days for me to have a proper stitch-in this weekend.

Here is what I was able to get done on Shakespearean Fantasy in the one session I had with it this month:


This is my first HAED (sort of, I started two on the same day) and I am still figuring out what works best for me. Right now I have a hybrid cross-country/parking/block thing going on. I started in the upper left corner and realized that there were a half dozen or so dark navy blue stitches on the otherwise solid black first page. Knowing me, I would have forgot them in the dulled senses that come with doing large blocks of one color so I did them first and then noticed that page two had a few more as did the first bit of page three. So I did them and then some black and then those greens you see on the bobbin, then some more black. I decided that I would do a length of color, then a length of black so that I wouldn't burn out on all that black (the entire piece uses 41 skeins).

15 comments:

  1. It's a great start! I think it's good to mix a few colors in when doing large blocks of one color. It helps keep things "exciting" LOL.

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    1. I am hoping that it does work or else this will certainly become a UFO.

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  2. Well, there might not be a lot of stitching in yet, but that give me another chance to drool at that amazing gridding of yours ^_^ I hope next month will be better, I want to see that black lump grow!

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    1. Thank you. I'm afraid the black lump in the upper left corner will only become a larger black lump. Thank you on the gridding - it was actually very relaxing to do.

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  3. Wonderful start! The 2nd HAED I started is one solid color for what feels like 100 pages. I keep rotating between both HAEDs for some variety or I'll get bored. ;-)

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    1. That is why I decided to try the one strand of black, one strand of color option. I'm afraid if I don't, boredom will quickly set in and I will find something else to stitch on.

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    1. Thank you. I did enjoy what I did have a chance to work on.

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  5. It's still great progress! I grid mine with a vanishing marker but have to do it over and over - I like yours better but I'd throw it aside after gridding and not touch it for a couple months. Then wonder why I did that, haha!

    Wow, 41 skeins of black!

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    1. Thank you. I thought about the marker, but just wasn't too sure about using it on my piece. I also thought about a sharpie but decided against it for the same reason. I actually found the gridding process very relaxing and at the time I was doing it, I needed the relaxation.

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  6. It's still great progress! I grid mine with a vanishing marker but have to do it over and over - I like yours better but I'd throw it aside after gridding and not touch it for a couple months. Then wonder why I did that, haha!

    Wow, 41 skeins of black!

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  7. That's the most intense gridding I've ever seen! You're much more patient than I am. I know if I tried to grid, I'd give up and walk away before I even started stitching.

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    1. I actually enjoyed doing it. I started up the audio books, put on the headphones and off I went, it was done before I knew it.

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  8. All progress is good progress! It looks great so far. I like your gridding. I'm sure next month will see lots more stitches added.

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    1. Thank you. I am hoping that I have more stitching time in February, but so far, it isn't looking too promising.

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