I Admit It, I'm Totally Behind

I have been up to so much since I last posted...and managed to procrastinate on so much more.

First and foremost, I gave up on trying to track how much time I've invested into Home Sweet Home Yoshi. It's been over five days, so I might as well, just admit that I've invested an enormous amount of time into it--and that's okay. My goal is to actually get it finished by the end of this month, if not sooner. I really don't have that much left and the vast majority of it is fill work, so the stitching is easy and I'm able to tune into other things like Netflix while I work. This is where I'm at as of yesterday night. Pretty cool, huh?

The fiance is ecstatic about it. We finally bought our first place--yes, bought--and he is really excited to have it hung up somewhere prominent. For him, I think that it's a milestone that we have our own space and we're able to decorate it with our own things that are based off of our own interests. As I've probably said before, we're pretty big on video games and video game culture, so for us, having a four foot by one foot pokemon cross stitch on the wall really isn't that weird. In fact, it's a medium-term goal that we'd both love to see come into fruition.

More to come, though! I really, really want to get this project done and then get moving on Christmas.

Goals for April 2015

I find it pretty amazing that it's already April 2015. SO and I are currently in the process of saving up for a house and I've got less than two months left of university before I graduate. It's been an incredible last few months and I am so grateful to be in the position that I'm currently in.

Unfortunately, because things are going well, there's also a lot going on with school, work, athletics, and other assorted areas of life, so I've kept my goals for April pretty quiet: catch up on my Sprite Stitch charity square and my take-along project is to continue making granny's daughters for my 10,000 Memories afghan that I've begun working on again.

Look out for posts on my charity square within the next week!

Site Updates, Christmas Planning, and October Goals

I think the only good thing about having contracted walking pneumonia last week was the fact that I had an excuse to stay home and rest. While I clearly did not get much done online, I was able to get some cross stitch work done and sleep as much as I could before my three exams. Let me just say for the record that I am very much looking forward to being done with my university in the next year.

In the crafting world, though, things are going well. Slowly, but surely, I am creating and adding patterns to the site and intend to have weekly pattern releases through March of next year. These patterns will be released on Sundays and posted to the Patterns page as well as the main page of this blog. Last week's release was Anna from Fire Emblem Awakening. This upcoming Sunday will be introducing two more FEA sprite patterns for Robin.

Yoshi is currently on the back burner due to a Size 28 tapestry needle shortage. I have looked for them at four different stores and still haven't been able to find them, so I've had to change gears and begin working on new projects that I can work on with my stash of Size 26 needles. Primarily, I have been focusing on my Sprite Stitch Charity Quilt Square and as silly as it sounds I feel like I'm working on it faster just because the X's are so much larger. So far, I'm about three days into it and plan on having a significant portion of it complete by the end of the year. I have also begun my annual pattern hunt for Christmas ornaments. So far, I have found five tiny patterns to complete and plan on having the cross stitch work done on them by the end of the month. (I'd tell you more on the subject, but that might ruin the surprise for the readers that are also on my Christmas list.)

All in all, life is moseying along at quite a nice speed. Because I'll be spending over two weeks at clients' homes this month, I'll have a considerable amount of free time on my hands, so I anticipate that I'll be able to complete all of my October goals which are listed below:

1. Stitch in significant portions of my SS Charity Square (500-1,000 stitches).
2. Cross stitch at least four Christmas pieces.

I'll be posting WIP pictures of my Lissa square as soon as I can get them typed up, so stay tuned!

September Goals and...Where did August go?

I've decided that August is the fastest month of the year. All of a sudden, it's August, it's autumn, and then you turn around and 'Poof!' August is gone and it's September already. Now, that all being said, August was a really fun and busy month. I started my new job; SO and I went to see Into the Woods; we took a weekend trip up to La Mirada to visit some of SO's family; SO and I both headed back to University (it's his last semester as a student!); and this past weekend I did some animal sitting in my hometown to wrap it all up. It was a great way to bring summer to a close, but I think I'm in the same mindset as most individuals when I say that I wish it could have lasted just a little bit longer.

Individuals who have followed my crafting misadventures through summer already know that I blew my goals for August out of the water. My original goals were to finish one Pokemon ornament and sew 1,000 stitches into Home Sweet Home Yoshi. I ended up finishing two Pokemon ornaments, Charmander and Ditto, and sewed over 2,400 stitches--over 10% total progress--into Yoshi. If the saying "blown out of the water" doesn't apply here, then I don't know what does. August was a great month and I was able to get an extraordinary amount done on my current projects. I'd still like to complete Yoshi by the end of the year, but that's yet to be seen. I'll still be happy if I can work enough on it to have all of the black outline work done by December 31st.

As for this month, September 2014, I'd like to do the following:

1. Keep this blog updated for the entire month.
2. Add another 1,000 stitches to HSHY.
3. [BONUS] Finish another Pokemon ornament and post a tutorial on the entire process.

The good news is that I've already added ~200 stitches to Yoshi, and I've been bringing it to class with me during the week, so there's hope for me to work on it, but as for Pokemon, that's yet to be seen. Stay tuned because this much you know as much about my month as I do, but until something happens, all is well and headed in the right direction.

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 036 & 037

Apologies that Friday's post didn't go out as regularly planned. Between two separate trips to Disneyland, two (unrelated) migraines, work, and prep for my return to University, this post ended up falling through the cracks. Add that to the fact that I'm almost ten posts behind on progress pictures for this post and I'm in some trouble.

Since I only added 40 stitches in on WIP 036 (August 5th), I forgot to take a picture of it the next day, so this photograph includes work from WIP 037 (August 6th), as well.

Apologies for all of the wrinkles. I haven't been able to press this piece in a while and it's clearly showing.

Over the course of August 5th & 6th I was able to add 223 stitches the project, which isn't a ton, but it did mean adding over 1% to the project as a whole. And oddly enough, the stitches that were added over these two days were mostly invisible--small areas of fill on Yoshi himself that were green and white.

Total Time through August 6, 2014: 1 day 21 hours 19 minutes

Total Stitches through August 6, 2014: 5,651/21,600 (26.16%)

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 035

I know that I'm crazy for saying this, but I feel like it's been ages since I've updated everyone on HSHY. As usual, the title says it all. Here is Day 035's progress toward completion. Will Yoshi ever get finished at this rate? For once, I'm thinking a strong and positive 'Yes!' (It's a miracle.)

And looking back at my time/stitch log, the reason it feels like so long ago for this WIP is because it's from July 30th... So much for getting up to date on everything this month. I didn't add a ton to this piece today, but as you can tell on Yoshi, he's actually starting to get some color on him. It took seven months, but I imagine that he'll be filled in completely within a few more photos.

I took this picture outside of my HR Office in the car, so I had to hold it up with one hand and quickly snap  a picture with the other. The color is good, though, and so far I'm really happy with how everything is turning out. I'm starting to imagine how it will look as I begin work on the tree now. Should be awesome. =)

Total Time Through July 30, 2014: 1 day 19 hours 23 minutes

Total Stitched Through July 30, 2014: 5,428 (25.13%)

August Goal #1 Complete!

Well, after almost eight months of procrastination, Charmander is finally done! After I set my month's goals on the first, I decided that I was just going to finish my "Complete a Pokemon Ornament" as soon as possible. I didn't touch any of my other projects until Charmander was done, even though I was incredibly tempted by Home Sweet Home Yoshi and some undisclosed patterns that I'll be working on over the course of the next year for the Sprite Stitch Charity Quilt. (I should have those two projects announced by October at the very latest. I just don't want to spoil the surprise until I officially have the games I want by my name on the annual spreadsheet.)

But back to Charmander! I worked on him furiously over the first weekend of this month and I was completely done by early Sunday morning, so I decided to just to dive head in head first and printed off a Ditto pattern to work on, as well. Turns out that by the end of August 3rd I had TWO pokemon ornaments to show for this month! SO is really happy and I have to admit that I am, too. I'm not on track to finish my goal of 20 ornaments for the year, but in total I have 5 done so far. If I'm smart and I choose easy-to-sew patterns, I can definitely get the last fifteen done by the end of 2014, but that's only if all 18 units of classes this semester, plus dog sitting, plus work don't take all of my time up first.

July Recap & August Goals

Well, it's hard to believe, but happy August 2014! I have no idea where summer has gone, but as of Monday it's officially ended for me. I start my new position at work come Monday, but no University until the end of the month, so summer may be winding down, but luckily it isn't over yet.

Last month I set out four goals for myself:

1. Use up remaining cotton yarn.
2. Add 2,000 stitches to HSHY.
3. Finish one Pokemon ornament.
4. Add 20 rounds to Ian's blanket. (Sort of.)

I blew my goals for Yoshi out of the water and added at least 2,000 stitches, if not closer to 3,000. I also managed to use up almost all of my remaining cotton yarn from my stash--pictures to come Wednesday. And even though I technically didn't finish my 4th goal of adding 20 rounds to Ian's blanket, I did finish up another blanket very similar to his and it's all wrapped up waiting for me to give to a good friend once I see her at work again come late August. The only goal that I didn't complete was #3. I did not work on Pokemon ornaments at all, but I did manage to get sidetracked and finish two other cross stitch ornaments for our future video game Christmas tree. I should have them posted on Monday, but I'm really happy with how they've turned out so far.

As for August goals, I'm not really sure how things with my new job are going to work out, so I'm setting the bar pretty low for this month.

1. Add 1,000 stitches to HSHY.
2. Finish one Pokemon ornament (Charmander).

Anything else that gets done next month is extra credit, in my opinion. There is going to be a lot that goes on in the next month just in terms of work and school, but SO's dad might be going back in for some elective surgery within the year, so I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm just going to play it close to the chest for now and whatever gets done gets done. As I always try to remind myself...

July Goals: The Stash Down Month

Well, it's finally July. I can barely believe it. Where has summer gone? How have I gained so much weight? And most importantly, how is my house such a disaster?

In doing some spring summer cleaning this morning, I realized that I have just too much going on in my realm of crafting. Most of these projects are blankets that I need to finish crocheting, but there are other projects, too, like my cross stitching and scrap booking. So, to follow in the footsteps of another craft blog that I was recently reading, I'm setting out with my goals for the month!

1. Use up all of the remaining cotton yarn in my stash, roughly one cone. (I see a lot of dishcloths and hot pads in my future.)
2. Add 2,000+ stitches to Home Sweet Home Yoshi.
3. Finish one pokemon ornament, most likely Ivysaur.
4. Add at least 20 rounds to Ian's blanket.

Ambitious, but doable if I put my mind to it. Now I just need to learn how to crochet and run. Have you ever seen the marathoners that knit scarves while they run? It's incredible.