Mermaids of the Deep Blue: First Post

This is one of those dreaded UFOs.  It is my one UFO that I want to finish more than anything.  Initially this project stitched up pretty quickly.  My biggest regret is that I started this before I started reading blogs and realized that you really don't have to follow the exact specifications listed on the design.  While I've seen other color variations on the stitching I would have still done the same colors on the mermaids.  However, I would have chosen a different color fabric, also I think something with texture would have looked better.  I don't dislike the way it looks, I just would have done it differently if I'd started it within the past 3-4 years, but I'm not changing it now.

Everything was going well, until I got to the beads.  I got a few done, but I hit a block.  But I'm determined now to get it done, dangit!

This is where it sat for the longest time, probably since 2009:

I knew one of the reasons for my lack of progress was that the beads were too large for 16 count.  At least they were in my opinion.  There were supposed to be long lines of beads, and I had to take one or two out because they didn't fit in the area they were supposed to, and that drives me nuts (I never said I wasn't strange).  After working on Ophelia I realized I really only had one option, start over.  But just on the beads.  So I took out all the beads I had stitched around the right mermaid's hands, on her hair and on her chest.

So, the Mill Hill seed beads are gone and will be replaced by Delicas.  Now, I have tons of Delicas from my beading, and sure enough I found some beads that I think are practically identical in color.  However, I am still using the Mill Hill pony beads and "treasure" beads (if only I can find the rest of them).

Here's how far I got last night (you can kind of see how much I took out):

Just a few, but enough to know I'm still not a huge fan of beading this way (give me my peyote stitch any day), but I'm happier with the way they fit and I know it'll look awesome.  There are over 2000 beads on this.  I just need to do a little a day and I'll get through it.

Pattern: Mermaids of the Deep Blue
Pattern by: Mirabilia
Started Stitching: April 7, 2008
Fabric: 32ct. Zweigart Amsterdam Blue Linen
Floss: DMC 2 over 2
Completed: All Cross Stitches & Backstitching, some Beading

Ophelia: Fourth Post - Page 2

So page 2 of Ophelia started off with a bang.  I got over halfway through the page in the first week.

The last half just seemed to take forever, especially when I got to the main darker purple.  Tonight I was finally able to push through to the end.

As I mentioned, I'm not stitching the parts that are actually Ophelia, which is why the bottom right corner of page 2 is blank.

So, finally three pages down:

The next page is, again, mostly background.  There is a flower that I will actually stitch since it's kind of in the middle.  So be prepared to see a few new colors, finally.  As of right now, I'm still planning on keeping this my main project, however, I did start another beading project.  If I'd known changing the thread count would make me work on it this much more quickly I would have done it ages ago.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Ophelia
Original Artist: Jonathon Earl Bowser
Pattern by: Heaven and Earth Designs
Started Stitching: August 15, 2009
Restarted Stitching: January 1, 2015
Fabric: 25ct. White Magic Guide
Floss: DMC 1 over 1
Percentage: 6.78% complete
Pages: 3 of 54 complete
Stitches: 22,956 out of 338,400 complete

Ophelia: Third Post - Page 7

So page 7 is finally done.  I didn't work on it while on vacation, but I've spent a bunch of time on it before and after.

This is how far I was at the end of February:

And finally, page 7 completed:

And here's the ever exciting full view of Ophelia:

Background... lots and lots of background.  Next up... more background.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Ophelia
Original Artist: Jonathon Earl Bowser
Pattern by: Heaven and Earth Designs
Started Stitching: August 15, 2009
Restarted Stitching: January 1, 2015
Fabric: 25ct. White Magic Guide
Floss: DMC 1 over 1
Percentage: 4.56% complete
Pages: 2 of 54 complete
Stitches: 15,442 out of 338,400 complete

I think I'm probably going to continue on to page two, again.  I really am still enjoying this, and I'd like to get to stitching Ophelia, unfortunately that's still two pages away, since I'll do page two then page eight.  Those both have a little bit of Ophelia in them, but I'll probably wait until I get to the pages next to them before I stitch her, I think it'll look cleaner.

Vacation Scarfs - Completed

Well, I just got back from vacation.  I wore my new shawl to dinner one night, however, my older nephew fell asleep during dinner and we ended up using it as a pillow for him.

Since my youngest nephew seemed to like the scarf I made for my sister/his mother, I decided to make him one.  And working on crocheting on vacation is much easier than working on cross stitch.  So I actually made him a scarf on the first day.

Here's the yarn:

And the finished scarf:

Project Stats:
Project: Kellan's Scarf
Pattern: Fillet Squares
Pattern by: The Crochet Stitch Bible
Started Crocheting: March 6, 2015
Finished Crocheting: March 6, 2015
Yarn: Red Heart: Gumdrop - Blueberry
Percentage: 100% complete

As I was working on the scarf for the younger nephew the older one asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was making a scarf for his brother and asked if he'd like one too and he said yes, so I had another project to work on while on vacation.

I made up a pattern since I didn't take any extra patterns with me so I just made up a pattern for this scarf:

Project Stats:
Project: Logan's Scarf
Pattern by: Me
Started Crocheting: March 7, 2015
Finished Crocheting: March 10, 2015
Yarn: Red Heart: Gumdrop - Blueberry
Percentage: 100% complete

I didn't work on Ophelia at all, it was just so  much easier to work on crocheting.  But I will hopefully have an update soon on her anyway.

Faces of Faery 88: Seventh Post - Framed

I mentioned that I got Faces of Faery 88 completed in time for the framing sale.

She's not up on the wall yet, but she's all framed and pretty.

Well, back to working on my projects and packing for my trip.  Ophelia's going with me, we'll see how much I actually get done.

Lacy Shawl - Complete

I'm going on a little vacation soon so I decided I wanted to make myself a shawl for the trip.  I found some really pretty yarn and a pattern that I liked at work.

Here's the yarn:

And I took absolutely no progress pictures, every time I was thinking to take one I was in the middle of crocheting and didn't want to stop, so here it is complete:

It's 7ft long and 20 inches wide, 2.13m long and 51cm wide.  I folded it in half to make taking the picture easier.

And here's a close-up to see the detail.

I ended up using 4 and a little bit of the 6 skeins I bought, and now it's packed and ready for my trip.

Project Stats:
Project: Lacy Shawl
Pattern: Shawls and Wraps
Pattern by: Leisure Arts
Started Crocheting: January 8, 2015
Finished Crocheting: February 25, 2015
Yarn: Red Heart: Boutique Unforgettable - Dragonfly
Percentage: 100% complete

Ophelia: Second Post - Page 1 (Again)

So, the last time I blogged about Ophelia was April of 2012.  I'm sad to say that every time I started working on her I got frustrated with the 25ct, 2 over 1.  So, I decided to restart her, this time 1 over 1 on 25ct. magic guide, and, I must say, I'm much happier.

This time I took a picture halfway through the first page.

And the first page complete (again).

Project Stats:
Pattern: Ophelia
Original Artist: Jonathon Earl Bowser
Pattern by: Heaven and Earth Designs
Started Stitching: August 15, 2009
Restarted Stitching: January 1, 2015
Fabric: 25ct. White Magic Guide
Floss: DMC 1 over 1
Percentage: 2.32% complete
Pages: 1 of 54 complete
Stitches: 7840 out of 338,400 complete

Since I was over halfway through page 2, I decided to go down to page 7 instead, just to work on something "different".  And I'm already 40% through that page too.  As I said, I'm much happier with it now, it's easier to stitch and I don't have any problems with the coverage as of right now, of course the real test will be when I get to page 3 or 9, where there are really dark colors, but the darkish colors in these two pages are covering really well.