Floss Friday #116

Happy Friday everyone! Another gorgeous Fall day here. Woke up early as I still adjust to the time change. Well let’s take a look at all my cross stitch projects that I workedx ont his week.

Starts & Finishes

I got everything I planned plus a little more this week with starting 3 projects and finishing 2!

START: WIPGO Project: Winter Basket #1 by Hands on Design

I am using 16 count stone and I hemmed and hawwed whether to use it. I was aftraid the white will blend in to much (and it might) but I think I am loving this as my background. Got a great start on start night. Looking forward to next time. The stitches really flow well which is making it easy.

START & FINISH: October Monthly Markings by Heart in Hand

I decided to get started early on this because I want to do two this month in preparation for finishing this project in December. The owl was fun to stitch with the called for fancy floss. He looks so adorable.

START & FINISH: November Monthly Markings by Heart in Hand

I was thrilled that November was so quick and easy. I am so ready to finish this in December. Just have to do the December square then I will be working on the border which is such a fun border. Nala just loved modelling this for you.

WIP Updates

It felt like a super productive week. Thread was just flying onto the fabric which it made it very fun.

WIPGO Project: Mr. September Calendar Gnome by Charlie’s Needle

My app says I am only 25% done with this project, but it feels like so much more now that I finished the gnome. Now I am working on the stack of books and basket of apples. The owl was so much fun to stitch.

2024 SJ Temperature Library by Kristi’s Corner

It felt great finishing up the October bookshelf. That skull is still super adorable. It is crazy seeing that we started October in the 100s and finished in the 60s. What a crazy month! It made for a very colorful shelf.

Fall Harvest Stitch Quarterly by Fat Quarter Shop

Last month I finished the basket and that just left the tablecloth to finish. I was so surprised to get so much done in just one night. I feel like I can definitely finish this month. It will be nice. This was special fabric that came with the Stitch Quarterly kit. So fun.

Snowman Collector: The Shepherd by Cottage Garden Samplings

I finally finished up the left side of his coat and even finished his sweater. I remembered I am one row off at the top so I decided to do his bow tie so I know where the right side of the jacket is supposed to be to finish. Still having to improvise here and there. I was taking a look at his head and hat and may have to improvise with that as well but we shall see. I want to fill in the gap between the left & right coat.

Seaside Tiny Town by Heart in Hand

I was able to finish two more houses last night. By my calculation I am 70% done. I really want to finish this so I can stop Frosty Tiny Town in January. If I end up with any extra time this month, I will try and sneak some more time in on this project. The next section will be so cute with another crab and water bird.

Upcoming Plans & Thoughts

Still on target for this month’s goals. Looking forward to this week here is what I am thinking:

• WIPGO Project Winter Baskets #1 (night 2)
• WIPGO Project Mr. September (night 2)
• Start November Book Shelf for 2024 Temperature stitch
• Start November Year of Celebration
• Start November Snapshot (last one of the series!!!)
• Fruit of Plenty
• August Stackables
• Autumn Stitching Season

I am not sure what I am most excited to work on but I am going to go with the Winter Baskets. I don’t have any projects that I am not looking forward to working on this week. So many new November starts which is exciting.

Happy Mail on the way

The Crescent City project that me and my daughter are starting is taking a lot of planning. I placed the order for fabric and floss with 123 Stitch. Caitlin tried to get it at the local Michaels and she was surprised at how much each skein is compared to what I can get it online for as well as how many they did not have. With each of us needing 45 colors, it was definitely better to order it online. The piece of fabric that we need is so large that there is no way to get it unless you have a local cross stitch shop – which we do not have here in San Jose – or order online.

Our supplies will be arriving by Tuesday so I have been working on loading the pattern (which is 30 pages long) into my app (Markup R-XP). Caitlin downloaded the app as well. I was very disappointed that it did not automatically load the key but at least it properly loaded the chart which is half the battle. So I am manually loading the key for Caitlin’s first page and will email her the file next week. That will let her get started while she learns the program.

There is 5400 stitches per page with a total of over 139k stitches. I wonder what year I will finish? LOL! I told Caitlin I would start one and when she finishes the other two, she can take over because I am pretty sure she will finish two way before I finish one because she only stitches on 1 or 2 projects at a time.

Happy Stitching everyone. Enjoy your weekend!

Peggy Stockwell in San Jose, California