Yuffie In Stitches

Slightly later than promised, here she is:

This project has taken me the best part of five months to complete!!!  I can't tell you how relieved I am to tick this one off the 'to do list'.

Sadly, this is going to be the last "In Stitches" design that I work on for the foreseeable future.  I have charted other characters, but to be honest, I've slightly lost interest in them.

For those wanting to stitch her, I have uploaded the pattern to BOX.net!

I haven't been posting on here that frequently lately, but I have some new patterns to share, which I will be posting this week so stay tuned!!!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! :) xxx

Tifa in Stitches ... DONE!!!

Pattern has been uploaded to BOX.net, which you can access by clicking on the "Pattern Archive" tab above and following the appropriate link.

Hopefully, Yuffie will be completed soon!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! :) xx

Quickie Update Regarding Latest Work In Progress!!!

Hello there guys!

Well, I'm so tardy at posting of late :(  I realised that I haven't been updating the blog as frequently as I would have liked, but life has been quite hectic recently.  Recently, I have been doing some part-time work *YAY*  I have a friend who works for a local Law firm and a few months ago they had emailed staff to ask if anyone knew of anyone who could come in and work on reception (answering phones, greeting clients) to cover staff holiday and sickness.  My friend asked me if I was interested, and keen to get back to work I said yes.

I've been doing odd days here and there since the middle of April, and it's been really enjoyable.  Not only that, but it's been a wonderful help in overcoming my illness.  However, the days are long (8.45am to 5.30pm) so when I do get home I am tired and don't want to stitch.

The last month has been particularly busy, what with back to work courses, extended Bank Holiday weekends and lots of part-time work!  This week should be quieter (famous last words), so I'm going to try and make the most of it by stitching, crocheting, charting etc... as much as I can!!!

First, lets have an update on the In Stitches:

Tifa is coming along quite nicely, since I took the piccie above, I've done her legs, so now she can walk about...LOL!!!  I'd like to try and get this finished before the end of the week (if possible).  Hopefully when this is done I can finish Yuffie too :)

Next, is the Pokemon Blackwork:

I charted Furret a while ago, but only started stitching him recently.  I've made a few thread changes as I've been going along, and I like how it's looking.  Unfortunately, the above piccie doesn't do it justice as I took it with my phone. The battery in my camera died during the Jubilee weekend and I haven't got round to re-charging it yet (shameful, I know).

Next up will be Psyduck and then I plan to stitch Castform. I have finished charting the 'normal', 'rain' and 'snow' versions, but finding the right fills/colours for his 'sunny' form have defeated me at the present time so I'm having a break whilst I work on other designs.

Finally, the astute amongst you will have noticed the lack of updates regarding my Gettysberg project.  Again this is down to all the crazy stuff going on in my life at the moment.  I've got another large project that I'm working on for Mike's aunty which I should finish first ... but more on that another time methinks!!!

So that's all for now until whenever the next update will be!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! :) xx

In Stitches - Progress Report

Sometimes, it's a wonder I get any projects finished as I always seem to have so many on the go at once.  While I try to complete my Jubilee projects before our weekend party, I haven't had much time to work on my In Stitches designs :(  I haven't added anything new to Tifa since my last update, but Yuffie is coming along nicely after the various disasters!

Here's where we're up to:

There's a lot of grey shades in the top part of the design!!!

So that's all I have for now.  Last night I managed to complete the next flag I was working on and do a little bit more of my Jubilee sampler, but I was really tired and ended up having an early night.  Hopefully I can finish them today!!!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! :) xx

In Stitches - Progress Report

Here's where we're up to:

Tifa is coming along quite nicely!

The same cannot be said for Yuffie :(  Started stitching her last night for first time since the hi-lighter incident, which was probably not a good idea, because I was really tired, and you shouldn't stitch when you're tired!  Realised after about an hour of stitching that her fringe wasn't lining up, Oh noes, I miscounted "ARGH!"

Thankfully, the damage wasn't as bad as I thought, but it set me back a while cause I had to un-pick before I could start stitching again!

The small amount of extra stitching doesn't really warrant an update today, but I'm taking her to Stitch and Chat with me this afternoon, so hopefully I'll have a decent progress report in a few days.

So that's the In Stitches out of the way, stay tuned for a new pattern...

Work In Progress Update!

Here's the WIP update I promised, slightly later than planned because I didn't get chance to get on the computer again on Thursday and yesterday I was away from home all day.

As a result, Togepi has been finished (well, he was only small).  Now that my laptop is operational again, I can get the pattern info drawn up, and when I've got him tidied up and scanned, I'll post him -- hopefully over the weekend!

Anyway, the In Stitches are still on-going.  On Thursday afternoon, I made a start on Yuffie whilst up at my mum's, but then I had a disaster -- I got pink hi-lighter on the fabric, so I had to sponge the fabric, which meant I couldn't do anymore!!!  

Thankfully, she's now dried off, and once I've ironed the fabric, I'll carry on with her.

Here's what I've done of Tifa and Yuffie so far:

These may be the last two In Stitchers characters I do for a while, so if you're a fan of the series, savour them.  I'm still getting requests for character for these too.  Those of you who've been watching me long enough will know that I ran a poll to see which characters you wanted to see, with the most popular being turned into patterns.  The list of characters has been decided, and I'm not adding to it anymore.  I really want to put this series to bed now so that I can concentrate on other projects -- especially the Pokmon.

I have a busy weekend so I don't expect to do much, but I'll up date again soon!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! xxx

Mystery Character ... Reveal Yourself!!!

Well I've been keeping you guys guessing as to the next character in my In Stitches series, and now I can finally reveal all...

TA-DAH!!!!

YAY!  It's Rude!

He was actually really quick to stitch, but some of the large areas of colour, like his head and suit started to get to me after a while.

I've uploaded the pattern to BOX.net and you can download him from HERE.

Next up will be Tifa and Yuffie (which I'm thinking about stitching simultaneously).  I may or may not start them over the weekend (depending on how I feel), but I will keep you updated!!!

Till next time ... Keep Kalm and Cross-stitch :) xxx

+NEW PATTERN+ Vivi in Stitches!

Well, it's been a while, but here is the next character in the In Stitches series:

The pattern has been uploaded and can be downloaded HERE.

I'm still working on that mystery character, but it should be finished soon -- watch this space!!!

Till next time ... Keep Kalm and Cross-stitch!!!

March Is ... In Stitches Month (and other useless news)

Hello there guys!

It's been over a week since my last post, and I must apologise.  This is partly due to the fact that last week I wasn't very well and stitching and blogging was something I didn't have the energy for.

In a recent post I mentioned that I was going to give the Pokemon a rest and work on my very much neglected In Stitches designs this month.  I'm working on two characters at the moment:

The first one should be instantly recognisable, but not so the second one ... can anyone guess???

I didn't get much done on these last week due to feeling crappy and I've been working on some small motifs as well.  Ideally, I would like to get these finished (plus a third one), by the end of the Month!  I've still got a few other characters still to chart and the plan is to get these done by the end of April.

In other news, it's only a month to Easter!

This year, I have given up chocolate for Lent.  No mean feat for a chocolate lover like myself, and made even harder when every other advert on TV is for a chocolate product and Masterchef has a pudding round!!!  

Yesterday, I was out with my partners family for a 21st birthday party.  We had a meal at our favourite pub, "The Cheshire Tavern".  They have recently changed their menu (not a bad thing), but the dessert menu has changed drastically, and to my dismay, they no longer sell their scrummy Ginger Nut Sundae :(  With most of the new desserts chocolate based, I went for the ice cream instead (which was probably the safe bet after such a huge feed)!!!

Easter means chocolate eggs, and my sister has been asking me about whether I would like one this year.  Personally, I would prefer the monetary value rather than the chocolate egg, due to the poor state of my finances!  I told her that I wouldn't be buying any (except for my nephew), but I thought that I could make some presents this year.  

I have some cool crochet patterns for eggs and chicks -- and some nice yarn in pastel colours!!  I haven't started on them yet, and I really should as I have quite a lot to make and not a lot of time to do them in!!!

So I think that I have waffled on for far too long!

Enjoy your week, and till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch!!! xx