Happy October! The year is really flying by, isn't it?! I'm really a little late to be starting this, as I will not be able to finish it by Halloween, but it will be fun to stitch on during the month in any case. I've discovered that I have a really, really difficult time working with 40 count linen these days. I even use magnifying glasses, but I was still having problems. The weave is so tight there are no holes that I can see and it makes for trouble counting. I had to buy a stronger set of magnifying glasses to see what I was stitching on the linen! A bit depressing, but oh well. I've never had to wear glasses--but I just can't see well enough on such a small area.
So, you can probably already see--I am working on "Jenny Bean's Halloween Sampler" by Shakespeare's Peddler. I love the Jenny Bean samplers and would love to buy the others, but I will wait until I finish this one (an incentive for staying on track). The other problem I had with this--the floss is limited edition and wasn't labeled. I had no idea until I pulled everything from the plastic bag and sifted through it all. The bag lists the colors and has a brief description, so I essentially guessed! Hopefully I am at least close.
Halloween project number two is the little ornament on the back of Prairie Schooler's "Boo to You". Now this is easy to see and should be easy to finish. I plan on making him into a fob for my scissors and hopefully finish him well before the holiday.
I'm making slow progress on my "Mystery Sampler" by Blackbird Designs, but progress nonetheless.
And I like seeing how they are going to look together. This always urges me on to finish this part so I can start section three!
And my poor "Band Sampler"--hardly no progress at all. I hate eyelets and the alphabet is slowing me down. I do want to finish the letters at least before moving on to the next part. I need to work out some sort of rotation, but my stitching has been erratic of late. So I will just keep working away at whatever I decide to pick up. I was hoping this would be a better stitching year, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. Better a little than nothing at all, right?!
Two nice Halloween WIP's! I have yet to attempt 40ct. I need a magnifying glass even for 32ct these days!
Nice progress on your Mystery Sampler and even if you only do one thread a day on your band sampler it can be surprising how much progresss you make.
Posted by: Lois | October 04, 2010 at 03:23 AM
I've all but given up on 40ct, because I just don't enjoy stitching on it. I have one 40ct WIP and have no plans to use 40ct again. I would rather stitch over one LOL!
Love your JB Halloween WIP and your other WIPs are looking good too. I agree with Lois - 1 strand a day can make a huge difference. I've done this with a couple of pieces this year to get them done.
Posted by: KarenV | October 04, 2010 at 07:49 AM
Great stitching! I really love your Mystery Sampler and Band Sampler. I only started doing eyelets recently because of my current wip. I love the effect but they are a tad fiddly and time consuming!
Posted by: Valerie | October 04, 2010 at 11:30 AM
:D
Everything looks great! I'm in a slump, myself, but I do think I've decided what linen to buy for my own Mystery sampler--thanks for being an inspiration that I could stitch this one, too!
That JB is also starting to call my name, lol! And, as for that PS, I'd never seen it before. Thanks for sharing everything.
Posted by: beritbunny | October 04, 2010 at 03:11 PM
Oh dear, and here I just got a piece of 40 ct to try! ha! we shall see how I do. Some people even do over 1 on 40 ct! I can't imagine.
Love your stitching, Danielle! Everything looks wonderful!
Posted by: Melissa | October 04, 2010 at 08:16 PM
Lois--I think I will not be buying 40 count linen anymore, though I love how the design looks on such a small count. Maybe 36 count will be better. I hate to think what I have kitted up with 40 count. I am going to try and at least do a few letters on my sampler--or something on another design--even if it is only one thread--good idea.
KarenV--I think my 40 count days are over, too. At first I was totally defeated on this one until I bought better magnifiers, but I think they will make things easier. I am going to try and stitching Something on at least one sampler every night. Even if it is only one row of stitches or one eyelet. You're right it does add up. I tend to feel more inspired and want to work harder if I can see some sort of progress on my work.
Valerie--I am never happy with how my eyelets turn out, though I think I am looking too closely and being too critical. When I am done with those two rows I bet I will love how they look. I only wish they were smyrnas! I love those.
Beritbunny--At least it is feeling more fall-ish outside, which means I want to spend more time inside--perfect stitching weather. Yay for the Mystery Sampler--once you have your linen you will want to dive right in! I love the JB samplers and want all of them, but first this one and later something new. The black cat is from the most recent Halloween sampler--just a small ornament freebie on the back of the chart. The front shows lots of little ornaments for Halloween. You would probably recognize it if you saw the front of the chart.
Melissa-Don't let me put you off. As long as I can magnify things, and the new glasses I have should do the trick--it's not really so bad. I love the way it looks when you finish, but I might stick to 36 as the smallest linen in the future--still pretty tiny. Over one and on 40 count. Imagine--I would go insane I think--that is someone who is a truly patient person! Thanks for the kind words!
Posted by: Danielle | October 04, 2010 at 10:40 PM
Nice Halloween pieces! I had the same problem with some LE threads I purchased. None were labelled and I hope that I sorted and labelled them correctly.
Nice progress on your mystery sampler. I am in a mega stitching slump and haven't started part 3 yet.
Posted by: Suzanne | October 22, 2010 at 01:35 PM