Moirae's Misc Stitches (FOs - December 2023)

[Moirae]

Haven't stitched much this week, but did get some hours onto the Egyptian Sampler. I had pulled the fabric out of whack and loose after trying to do fractional cross and backstitches on the OVER 1 part of the Pharaoh. Splitting threads on 28 count with a dull needle is not the easiest thing and I also had issues getting the needle under the over 1 stitches to secure the threads. I had to take it off my scroll frame and gave it a wash to restore it back to normal.

Unfortunately the areas that had little stitching wrinkled up and not even a steam iron was getting it out. That's probably because it's 100% cotton. So, I sprayed it a little with water and blocked it a little on my (generic) q-snaps. I was off by 3-4 stitches from a straight line down the sides, but all the little wrinkles came out and it's a thick fabric (unlike lugana), so, it shouldn't distort easily. I still have to put it back onto a scroll frame, but I took a picture of it since I could see it all at once for the first time. I love being able to see the whole piece.

I did this at night, but at least took the front picture under a few bright lights.

Here's the back. Not too bad considering I have to start and stop every 4 stitches in the border. I tried carrying the threads under the stitches, but it got way too bulky with 5 sets of color running through it.

[Firehawke]

Sorry to hear that the crafting gremlins were at work! But yay for being able to see the whole piece! It's looking FANTASTIC!!! Good luck defeating those gremlins!

(and yay for Dalek fabric )

[Moirae]

I haven't felt like putting my Egyptian Sampler back on a scroll frame, yet. Instead I'm doing a monochrome Game of Thrones pattern I got of Etsy last month. I was hoping to have a little bit more finished on this pattern by now, but I keep getting furry interference.

Testing colors. I figured if I had to use 7 skeins of it, doing ~70 extra stitches isn't a big deal. So glad I did because the pattern recommended bright orange (the one next to my thumb, though it's not quite as bright as this photo shows). This is 16 ct aida by the way.

First one just laid on me and put his paws all over my pattern.

Second one, tossed my highlighter aside, laid across the entire pattern and kept pausing my show by hitting the spacebar with his butt. He stared at me for 15 minutes or so until I gave up for the morning and went off to do something productive. lol

[Firehawke]

It's looking beautiful! And furry helpers certainly have their own unique definitions of "helpful"

[Moirae]

I got this as a cheap Chinese kit to test out this kind of printed pattern you can get off Aliexpress before starting a larger project.

When I started stitching it, I realized that it must have been ripped-off from a designer that uses evenweave fabric because there were a lot of fractional stitches. I searched for awhile and was finally able to find out it was a Margaret Sherry design. The pattern is called "Coffee and Cuddles". It was originally in the magazine CrossStitcher, April 2008 edition. It also appeared in a single issue magazine: The Best of Margaret Sherry (2011). As far as I could tell, there are no in print version of this pattern. There aren't digital issues that go back this far. They don't have any print back issues in stock of the magazines and I didn't see any on ebay.

It's been pretty much done since last year, but I hadn't added the 6 french knot eyes yet. I don't hate french knots, but I'd been putting it off because had to pierce the stiff fabric to do them and I'd already managed to stab myself hard enough to bleed when doing some of the fractional backstitch. Well the knots are now done, but it was a PITA and I bent a couple embroidery needles trying to pull it back through tightly.

If you've ever wanted to do one of these kits (they usually come in 11ct, but this one was 14ct) and, like me, were unsure if the printing would wash out, it does and you can see more pics of it here - https://imgur.com/a/1OK7A

[FireKraken]

What an adorable pattern! It came out beautifully!

[Firehawke]

That is TOO cute!!!

Bummer about the poking yourself and bending needles, though!

[Moirae]

Thanks guys.

Bummer about the poking yourself and bending needles, though!

Ahh, I didn't get any blood on the stitching and it was a bit of a novel experience to pr-ick myself like people always seem to be doing in the movies and I'm just glad I was ruining embroidery needles I almost never use instead of my (special order, since no one carries Bohin around here) tapestry needles. [Pr*ck is apparently in the bad word filter here. lol]

I finished that one up because it gave me an excuse to start another Kitty themed project. (As if I needed excuses to start more projects. Well, at least, I waited a month from deciding to do it and actually starting it)

HELLO KITTY AVENGERS! - Courtesy of the good people here.

I was just looking for a quick project that I could finish in a week and I thought of doing Lokitty, but, when I found the pattern, I saw all these other ones and I couldn't help myself. I'm doing 8 of them and since you can't have them all there without the logo.... So much for a small thousand stitch project. Oh well, I get to use my Gold Stardust Aida.

I started with Fury because he's in the center.
Hello Fury and Hulk (outline only) - 1300 stitches down.

Darker so it's easier to see some sparkles. It's really oh so shiny irl.

[Firehawke]

LOVE the sparkles! This will be such a fun project to watch!

And yay for having other needles to work with...who wants to ruin the good needles!

[Moirae]

Been dabbling on a few of my WIP projects, 50 stitches here and there, but I've been focusing on my GoT one.
I'm happy to announce that I have completed the center of my pattern.
The current finished area is 86 stitches round (5.375" on 16 ct).

oh and kitty-Hulk also got his purple ̶p̶a̶n̶t̶i̶e̶s̶ pants

hulk panties.jpg (72.33 KiB) Viewed 3732 times