Finished Two More... 15 and 16 for 2022

Band Sampler - Historical Sampler Company.  Finish #15 for 2022.  Done on a white evenweave 28 count something, one over one, using the suggested dmc flosses.  Not my usual stitch, not my favorite color combination, but that was kind of the point.  Do something that is not your usual stitch. 

This is where it was when I picked it back up again.  Last worked on it December 2021, so a finish a year later, it's lovely to have it done. 

La D Da - Marion the Librarian.  Finish #16 for 2022.  Done on Colour and Cotton 32 count Yellow Cake jobelan, one over one.  The fabric is much more yellow.  Used dmc floss, switched the red to a darker cherry red.   My camera isn't very accurate at photos and details on something this size.

Just a photo to show the scale and that the finished thing is crazy small.  It finished at 2 by 3.5 inches, with a stitch count of 61 x 126.  Last worked on it April 2020.  This maybe shows the fabric is more yellow.  It also shows where it was when I picked it back up again.

Didn't grab either of these for a reason, just grabbing random from the already started stuff.  But the pile is huge, so getting things that were close to done is just random.

Ready for a break from it...

Long Dog Samplers - Life After Death.  I have stayed with stitching this.  Not stitching everyday.  I have completed three skeins and might be halfway into the 4th skein? Three corners are completed.  I am ready for a break from it.  This photo is pretty color accurate, which is rare from my camera.

I have now finished my third chemo.  It's every two weeks, so it doesn't sound like much, but it has been two months actually.  My friend cut my hair down to just beard stubble level.  I ended up wearing a winter hat in the house just to deep my head warm.   I bought 26 more hats, spend $4 or $6 each, so over $100 in hats from a box store.  Then a hardware box store offered their $2 hats for a $1 each, and I got 11 more.  It sounds crazy, they can be washed, but you want the not washed softness.  Some of the hats were women's and some are men's.  The man's hats had a camo version.  It made me laugh to think a man would be sent to buy a chemo hat for a woman, and come home with a camo hat instead.  So I had to buy 4 camo chemo hats for myself.  I knew once it snowed, the hat supply would be gone.  So I stocked up.  It costs less than a burger to buy myself a new hat once a week, I just had to buy them all up front.  I have felt fine through this so far.  I tell the nurses I have nothing to whine about, so I'm not gonna whine.  I feel fine.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I am not trying to work a full time job and do chemo.  That would be stressful. 

New Start for the end of 2022

 New Start - Long Dog Samplers - Life After Death.  PTP Lugana 28 count Brash - one over one,  using Anchor black 403.  This is my chemo stitch.  So far I have only done my first of four sessions.  

This is across the bottom, and that rick rack area I am stitching is halfway up the side.  I don't think I can actually stitch this while getting chemo, it's just too fussy and a mis-count would be depressing.  They would let me, but messing it up even once would just make me wish that I hadn't.  So far I have used one skein.  I have 5 pages of 12 started. 

Finish #14

Finish #14 for 2022.  Gigi R - Letter C.  Done on white probably jobelan 28 count, one over one.  Used just over 3 skeins of DMC 315.   Took me forever.  But I started it because I liked a boy named Charlie once upon a time..... But at this point in my life, C is also for cancer and I was supposed to start chemo this week.... so other C letter words are more in my world lately.  

It must have looked like this when I picked it back up again.  And honestly, I'm just glad it's finished. I missed starting chemo because I got sick, just the flu.  But I covid home tested just to be sure, and I was negative.  I am thinking about a new start and a chemo project... I have - Long Dog Samplers - Life After Death...but that might be a little too weird.  They do expect me to be fine after all of this.  I just have 6 months of chemo, and a bit of radiation.

Random Grab

Blackberry House - Plum Street Samplers.  Just a random grab from the already started pile.  Six pages total, and I have something stitched on every page at this point, but no page is completed.  Not sure how much longer I stay with this.  And I did have a couple moments of off a stitch, and I took it out and put it in correctly.  It wasn't huge areas, probably only a thread length each time. 
 

This is where it was when I picked it back up again.  As for the other stuff, I get a port put in next week, and chemo will start soon. 

Two Finishes...

Variant of Interest - Long Dog Samplers.  A finish!  Finish #12 for 2022.  Anchor Black 403 floss, used 7 skeins, one over one, on 28 count Brash Lugana.  I LOVED this...  It is my breast cancer project.  And I know the designer had in mind the pandemic when she named the design, but for me, it also means breast cancer that doesn't appear as the lump we are all taught to feel and check for. 

Knightmare (mirrored) - Courtney Collection.  Finished tonight.  Finish #13 for 2022.  Done on 28 count Dove Gray jobelan using dmc 3799.  I was stitching this before I noticed I had a problem, and I got halfway done before starting the Variant of Interest project.  And I finished the other half after having the breast removed. 

They are still on the same piece of fabric, same floss.  

There are so many things I could say about having breast cancer.  My local breast cancer group did help pay for the biopsy and appointments to get me diagnosed.  I have always said I would be fine with a breast being removed, and when it happened, I was.  But it's not what you expect.  The breast removed was not a big deal, but whoever sewed this did a crappy job.  I refer to it as an 8 year old boy home school sewing project.... and he is not happy about the assignment, or clearly doesn't care about the results.  I have two cleavages, and a corner.  WTF???  I can't make this up.  The painful part is the lymph node arm stuff.  Wow.  Nobody is saying that at all. 

It took me days to finally pick up the needle again.  I wanted to, I just couldn't.  It took a bit longer than I expected.  But I'm back, and stitching.  Their next plan is to start chemo.  But basically, I had something that was stage 2/3, and I should survive this.  But they do a body scan in a couple days looking for anything else weird.  That's scary.  I'm not scared of the chemo, but that body scan,  that I am a bit worried about. 

Moving Up...

Variant Of Interest - Long Dog Samplers.  This is as of today.  Into the 5th skein of anchor black.  Four full pages yet to go, and two partial pages. 

This was the finish of the 4th skein of Anchor black.  Well into the 10th of 15 pages. 

8 Pages Completed...

Long Dog Samplers - Variant of Interest.  This is 8 of 15 pages completed.  Still doing the medical version of crazy.

5 Pages Completed

Long Dog Samplers - Variant of Interest.  This is 5 of 15 pages completed, and just over 2 skeins of Anchor black used.  The photo is not color accurate.  As for my medical saga, it's crazy as all medical crap is.  I have the scans, the scan doctor says probably cancer.  But it's early, I'd not need chemo or radiation.  All those breast places that say they help women with no insurance, they won't help me at all.  I'm not old enough to get medicare yet.  My next appointment is to talk to the surgeon, who will then send me to get a biopsy, which will be at least sent directly back to him, which then gets me surgery. 

Still Stitching...

Long Dog Samplers - Variant of Interest.  A new start, this is the first skein completed, using Anchor black 403, on PTP Brash 28 lugana, one over one.  It will easily fit on a fat quarter.  It's LOVELY.

Before I was working on Courtney Collection - Knightmare ( mirrored ).  I think I have half the pages completed, but the remaining pages are solid stitches compared to the completed ones.  I do have the original version completed on the same fabric.

Long ways to go when you can see the areas missing.  My stitching bug was very low.  Had been donating platelets again.  Then my body decided to come up with something weird, and trying to figure that out has been goofy.  I even paid to get a test, was taken back to the test area, then told because I HAVE a problem, they won't test me because I don't have a doctor.   They tried to get me a doctor by stopping and calling places for me, could not find me anybody willing to order me a test or take me as a referral knowing I was there to get a test and HAVE a problem... the testing place gave me back my money, and said - go away...  That's crazy.  Their website says specifially, you do NOT need a doctors order to get their services.  But when you get there, they do.  They said - go to the free clinic, here is the address.  I can't do that...  I have no insurance, but I can pay for tests, I can pay to go to a Urgent Care type doctor.  Which was $131 to get me in for them to say - yep, you need a test.  We will have the test schedule person call you... and now it's been 24 hours, I haven't heard from that person yet.  Really bad karma to take a spot that a sick and poor child needs if I can afford to go and pay somewhere else. But today is 3 weeks since I noticed the problem.  I always felt I was good enough that they would take triple bags of platelets and my whole blood...  and they have 60 times since I started giving this time... but if I needed anything, am sick, I'm gonna die before I can get them to help me.  And it's true.

The ReStart...

Salem Sisters 2 - Plum Street Samplers.  This is the restarted version on a more interesting fabric, using the suggested fancy flosses.  Much better than the white version.  But at this point, I was just burned out on it, although I tried to hang in there....  it was just not getting any love at all.  Then I tried to pull out a couple of other stitching started things, and tried to find a groove again.  At the moment I have pulled out Courtney Collection - Knightmare (reversed) again.  It's slow going too, but I am picking up the needle again.  I don't have air conditioning, so I just was out of energy to do anything.  I started giving platelets again, so I do get to enjoy air conditioning for 2 hours sometimes.  I have fans, and I have been doing this since 1998, and really there are only a few really miserable days. 

This, then That, then the Other Thing...

 

Salem Sisters 2 from Plum Street Samplers got started...  on white, which was a crappy fabric choice basically.  But I was enjoying stitching it, till I realized it looked like a stitchers first project...

Then I tried picking up from the already started stuff.... decided to try filling in pages, but I could not even finish filling in that peacock on the lower left....

Courtney Collection - Knightmare ( mirrored ).  Decided to start the mirror image of this one.  But I didn't last at this one very long either.

 This was Barbara Ana - Love Never Fails... which I decided to restart.  This version was on a sort of suggested color fabric, but her dress disappearing bothered me.  So I ordered two possible different fabrics, and it got restarted.

And this is the restart version so far.  My camera is not doing this color justice at all.  It is called Peach Rose lugana 28 count.  I would say it's a cantaloupe color.  So far, it looks really good on this.  And it's way outside my comfort zone of usual colors.  It would fit on a fat 1/8, which let me by a couple different odd colors to try.  So I started the projects by trying to put something on just white, and feeling disappointed I had picked that, and ended happy with trying a Peach Rose fabric.  Actually, I think I'm gonna like this fabric more than the suggested brown tone.  

Other than starting new things, which everything I started is part of a set, and a restart... and trying to work on something started... it was good.  But honestly, now I'd like to do a restart on that Salem Sisters design.  It's a quick stitch.  Doing it again after finishing this one, no problem. 

Finish #10 and Finish #11

Sarah Spurr from Carriage House Samplings.  Used the suggested dmc flosses.  I outlined her face and arms so they didn't disappear into the fabric.  And it's lovely once I did that.  Changed the name and date to personalize it for me.  Finished size is 5 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches.  Stitched one over one on Laurel Green Lugana 28 count.  And just for the record, Laurel Green is not green at all but more like cake batter.  And it's finish #10 for 2022. 

Finish #11 for 2022.  Happy Christmas from Prairie Schooler.  On 25 count Black lugana, one over one.  Changed the flosses, skipped the text, the squirrels went from red to gray.  Changed the sleigh to gray instead of green.  Measures about 4 x 5.25 inches.  I know the changes started cause the bell being the same color as the reindeer didn't seem right.  So those bright yellow houses should again be reindeer brown.  But brown houses seemed kinda drab.  But if you are seeing this and considering the colors... oh no, my colors for the red and yellow....  not the suggested colors at all.  But it IS completed now.

Finish #9 for 2022

Ink Circles - The Red Ship of Lesser Commitment.  Finish #9 for 2022.  Used more than one skein, but less than two of dmc 938.  One over one, on 28 count China Pearl Jobelan.  It was a new start and I stayed with it till it was completed.  We are not counting, but I think it is my third new start and finish so far this year.  The point is NOT to make the already started pile larger.

Yep, number 4 is the smallest, and is turned sideways on the fabric.  But it's a bit hard to tell scale, so...

Big Red Ship - the largest is 12 inches wide x 14 inches high.  March 20, 2021

Modestly Sized Ship is 10 inches wide x 9 inches high.   April 5, 2021

Small Ship is 6 x 6 inches.   March 8, 2022

Smallest (today) is 4.5 inches wide, and 5.5 inches high.   April 26, 2022

Dates after are finish dates, two last year, two this year, almost a year apart.  Who knew that March and April were Ink Circles Ships months for me?  For me, this series is completed.  I liked it and enjoyed it, but I'm out of fabric.

I had picked up Sarah Spurr, and was filling it in when I picked up that ship stuff.  It's was so close, and looked like the below photo when I picked it back up again.  Leaves on tree, hand flower leaves,  and the light part on the bird ( which doesn't really show ) got filled in... , then I started a boat..., so now back to Sarah again. 

Finish #8 for 2022

Plum Street Samplers - Salem Sisters 3.  Finish #8 for 2022.  Done on Cameo Peach 28 count jobelan, one over one, using the suggested fancy flosses.  I think I last worked on this 8/22/2018. 

Above is where it was when I picked it back up again.

Plum Street Samplers - Salem Sisters 1.  This was completed some other year, but I added the cats at the bottom, per the pattern.  Originally, I omitted the cats, but the plan was to do all three Salem Sisters designs on this fabric, but turns out, it's not big enough.  I tried to add floss to the block letters to make the 'A' 'T' and 'S' more visible, but neither the black or the orange worked, so need to match the thread in the fabric maybe.  A project for another day.  It bothered me when I originally completed it too.

I also have the Salem Sisters 2 pattern and floss.  I grabbed my fabric stash, just to find a cream, or white to start it.... but no fabric screamed " USE ME !".   I also got in that newest Ink Circles littlest Ship pattern.  I wanna start that kinda.  And I was also working on 'Sarah Spurr' from 'the pile of started stuff ', and I am close to another finish.  But for some unknown reason, grabbed this Salem Sisters from the pile, and it got finished first.  It doesn't really matter which order things get done.  But there is a bit of a trick when I am trying to finish things from that already started pile, and two new things nearly get started.

Finish #7 for 2022

 Midsummer Night Designs - Remembrance.  Finish #7 for 2022.  On a 28 count lugana Colour and Cotton fabric of the month May 2021, Garden Path.  One over one, using the suggested fancy flosses.  I omitted the personalization dates and initials.  I did not forget the left side two bottom flowers.  The pattern has initials there instead.  This month randomly, my friends mom died..., so I considered using her information for this, especially since her funeral service is this week.  But instead, I'm gonna just call it a finish for now.  I used the Threadworx fancy floss suggested for the text.  It finished out to be about the size of a postcard, so it's not very big. 

Finish #6 for 2022

 

Finish #6 for 2022.  Courtney Collection - Pelican (reversed).  Stitched one over one using dmc 938, used 7 skeins, on 28 count PTP Doubloon.  

Just to show the project completed.  The bottom one is the original pattern version, and the top one is the reverse image that I just completed.  Same cut of fabric, same floss, both took 7 skeins of dmc each.  The bottom one looks a little wonky on the side, but they just are not laying flat.  It's really easy to get a mirror image pattern, and a good copy shop will not charge extra to do it.  

This was the first time I did a mirror version. And it's still my favorite.  The only ones I have framed and on the wall.

And also Beasties. These don't look like they match, but they do, it's just a weird photo.  I also have the original version of Knightmare done, and plan to do the mirror version.  And I'd like to do Mermaid's Folly in the mirror version too, but that's a big sucker, and I only have the original version done so far. But if you have a designer you like - doing mirror images - kinda fun. 

Working on the final page.

 

Courtney Collection - Pelican (reversed).  Finished two more pages, and on the last page.  Trying to get another finish.  Below is what it looked like when I picked it up this time.

Finish #5 for 2022

 

Ink Circles - Forests of Sumatra.  Finish #5 for 2022.  Done on a Colour and Cotton no name fabric of the month.  One over one, using Gloriana Silk - Cranberry.  I am gonna say it took almost 3 skeins, but that could be wrong.  It finished to be smaller than a sheet of paper.  It's on a smoke gray fabric but the lights wash out the photo. I have now completed Dragons and Forests, and I have the pattern for Squirrels.  Oh, and this might be a 28 or 32 count lugana. 

Just as a reference, the photo of Dragons completed using the same silk floss, but on a different fabric. 

Finish #4 for 2022

 

Needle Bling Designs - Stitching Comforts.  Finish #4 for 2022.  On white jobelan 28 count, one over one, using suggested dmc floss.  Skipped adding initials and date.  Added a violet fancy floss for the buttons, just because ecru wasn't gonna really show.  And real buttons, are just slower for me to put on.  But I liked the saying, so I bought the pattern.  The colors suggested are not my normal pallet, but sometimes what it suggests when finished, it's not what you expect.

Ink Circles - Forests of Sumatra.  I'm still working on those final two pages.  I want this to be my next finish. 

Finish #3 for 2022

 Midsummer Night Designs - Heaven Above.  Finish #3 for 2022.  Used the suggested fancy flosses, on a white 28 count jobelan, one over one.  I messed up skipping two stitches on a flower stem in the text area.  Also I grabbed the wrong floss for some flower in the upper area, but it was something that worked anyway, so I left it.  I added a tail on a bird, just to make me happy.  I also changed some of the letters to make them consistant thoughout.  Like the letter 'n'.   

Just to show I did the text first.

This was my stash haul.  Acutally, when I put it out for the photo, I'd forgotten I'd ordered one of the patterns.  At the time, it was something I just kept putting in the cart, and I sorted my stash floss to see what I didn't have.  But I thought in the end, I didn't order it.  But I did, and the floss I was missing too.  So it's kitted up for when I need something new to start.  Like I said, I haven't ordered anything for a while.  The item I wanted was the 'Remember' booklet.  I have that multi-part project started in my stash, but I am doing it all on one piece, and I was a bit confused when the sections matched up.  I clearly needed this booklet, to help me.  I have several Salem witch things.  And I wanted to try the next Long Dog samplers, on PTP Brash, after doing a few Courtney Collection patterns on it.  Just these projects would keep me busy this whole year.  I still need a couple floss things that everybody is out of, but it will show up for me to order later.  That fabric in the middle is Vellum lugana.  It's lovely. 

Started Something...

Ink Circles - Forests of Sumatra.  Filled in a bit more, still working on the final two pages. 

Heaven Above - Midsummer Night Designs.  A new start... using white jobelan, 28 count, one over one, using the suggested fancy flosses.  It's smaller than a sheet of paper.  I started in the bottom right corner, and I like words.  I was looking for a short break from the other project, and I got pretty far.

I have been trying to work on the already started pile.  I didn't buy too much last year, but I was part of the fabric of the month club.  This month I dropped the fabric club.  I watched the market patterns, and there was one I wanted.  But nobody orders just one pattern from 123Stitch.  So in the end, I got three orders of stuff.  I'm a happy stitcher.