Smalls SAL January Check-in

Hello Friends,

Its last friday of the month , time to show what smalls we stitched during the month. I'm participating first time in Small SALs hosted by Heather. I decided to join this SAL as I usually stitch birthday cards or exchange pieces throughout the year and this gives me an additional chance to blog.

I stitched a thank you card for my Knitting Adviser or should I say Knitting guru. We "met" on Instagram when she found my account thru a hashtag. She has been very helping about my beginner questions about knitting techniques , where to find supplies etc.

Feather 

      Design by Maria Diaz

               From CrossStitcher Magazine , Issue 320

The stitched piece was pasted on the handmade paper using double sided tape which I specially bought from trip to USA. The tape didn't work well and I had to use glue .

The card was appreciated by my guru , so shall we say job well done?

I smell a FINISH!!!

Hello friends,

This year again I'm participating in IHSW , as the SAL has been revived on blogland and facebook by Joysze at Random Ramblings and Jo respectively.

For those of who don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thur-Sat and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

Is it a coincidence or what that my first IHSW post in 2016 and 2018 have the same project? Or rather it is shameful that I'm still working on the same project since 2 years 😡.Well this shame is soon to end, I'm so close to finishing this project that I can feel butterflies in my stomach.

I added a total of 1168 stitches during the weekend . I could have done better if I didn't had to visit an ailing relative.

Some comparison pics:

A lot of white stitches were added in the bottom flowers which can't be seen in the picture which was taken this morning when it was still dark.

Thank you all for cheering me up for finishing this WIP thru your comments on my last post. All that is left is to add the greyish blue in bottom right flower, the wording in centre and backstitch.

Shall we say this can be wrapped during the week?

We shall see...

Gifted Gorgeousnes SAL January Update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I'm still working hard(ly) to finish my Candamar design project as now I have a deadline. I may be able to meet my bestie in February after 4 years and give her the gift .Every time I start stitching this project, it looks close to a finish and after few minutes I see new colors which need to be stitched. No wonder I call it my nemesis project.

I have added 1248 stitches since I last showed you but most of them are white so hard to see any progress.

Before

Right hand corner

Left hand corner

I made another small gift for a fellow crafter but I will save that for the Smalls SAL post. 

This weekend is IHSW and I will be stitching the nemesis project. Depending on how much progress I make, I will write a separate blog post for it or just post on facebook group.

December or January are months we usually travel to India , my home country, for our annual vacation. This time I wasn't able to go as I was short of leaves but hubby was in India for over a week and brought me lots of gifts.Amongst those is this custom desk calendar made from photos of the Flower of the month project I stitched in 2016. I love it.

That's it my friends, not much to show as I'm trying to finish the above project and until its finished I'm not going to stitch anything else.

I will be visiting your blog to see what gifts you are working on.

2017 Crafty wrap up and 2018 plans

Happy New Year friends

I hope you had good time welcoming the new year, in whatever way you did. I had a day off and we had a relaxing time at home and I tried a new recipe which was a success.

I have been reading everyone's wrap up of crafty finishes in 2017 and plans for 2018. I love reading statistics...numbers and pictures speak to me rather than just plain text.

Let's see how I did with my 2017 goals.

Goals for 2017

1. Dedicate more time for crafting specially on holidays/vacation   ✔ Non crafting reduced from 42% in 2016 to 34% in 2017

2. Try blackwork       ✔ Made a blackwork ATC for swap

3. Learn 2 new ways of finishing cross stitch ❌ Only one new way, biscornu

4. Pick fabric painting again ❌

5. Keep trying to crochet       ✔ Made a crochet hat

Plans for 2017

1. Participate in following monthly SALs

a) New Year New Start with Stitch Maynia (FB group)- I will start Dimension kit "Indian peacock" on 1st Jan 2017. ✔

b) Tour de Designers 2017 - SODA stitch with Stitch Maynia (FB group) - I will start "The Love Rain" on 1st April. ❌

c) Tour de Designers 2017 - Lizzie Kate with Stitch Maynia (FB group)- I will start "I Cannot Count"  on 1st July. ❌

2. Blog SALs/Activities 

a. I will continue to participate in Gifted Gorgeousness SAL . ✔ Yes managed to post all months.

b. I joined Kaye's Friday Frolicking somewhere near April 2016 but shamefully posted only once in 2016. Will try to post more often. ❌ Posted only once

c. Catch up posts for The Alphabet Club. Haven't posted about this since April 2016. ❌ Posted only four times

Apart from above I joined the blog- A New Stitchy Start 2017 and posted only once. I also joined Theme-tas-stitch 2017 hosted by Kerry in February and posted 5 times for the SAL.

Wrap up for 2017 

2017 was clearly a year of exchanges, I participated in 4 cross stitch exchanges and had fun making things for my partners. I enjoy the process of getting to know my partners, making something they will like .I had a total of 6 cross stitch finishes this year. 

I added 9844 stitches to the only WIP from 2016

Progress as on 14th December 2016

Progress as on 31st December 2017

My new year start will be the second WIP I will carry into 2018.

Indian Peacock by Dimensions.Design by Suzanne Nicoll

Knitting caught my interest this year and I learnt some new stitches .I had 9 knitting finishes, achievement being finishing my first baby blanket. Shown here are 5 which have already been gifted.

I'm very proud to say that I hosted a national level knitting event -WWKIP day here in Kuwait. The event was a huge success with considerable media coverage.

I also helped my friend Tammy with a cross stitch workshop for kids in December.

I'm more confident with crochet now and made one hat for hubby.

A little about how much I spent this year on needlework:

Cross stitching supplies                                                 $51.8

Knitting supplies including badges for WWKIP              $122.4

Needlework exchanges                                                  $36.9

Apart from needlework, I took a dig at a new hobby: Postcrossing. It involves sending postcards to random people in the world and bringing a smile to their face.

I finished reading 7 books this year.

Just noticed that my last post was 100th post on my blog. I would like to thank my readers who visit and leave a comment on the posts. Your comments encourage me to blog.

Goals for 2018

I have set simple goals this year to craft every day and finish the WIP from 2016

Plans /SALs:

My choice of designs prevents me from joining any designer specific SALs. As the idea of a SAL is to stitch along with other crafters, I enjoy stitching and posting for a SAL, when the host is involved. By now I know which are the SALs host who make special efforts to leave comments.

I will be joining following SALs this year:

1. Gifted Gorgeousness

2. IHSW

3. I may join an Instagram SAL called #gardengatesal later in the year.

I'm thinking of joining Smalls SAL as usually I stitch birthday cards all thru the year. Need to check what the perquisites are for this SAL.

I will also like to blog more often and leave comments regularly on blogs I follow.

So that's it my friends for 2017 and I hope you have lots of crafting time in 2018.