skater43 stitches Zelda games

[skater43]

As mentioned in my Lolo thread, despite BMH's computer conspiring against her, she was able to prevail and complete her Phantom Hourglass pattern for me! Had issues trying to upload it here, so we'll see if I have better luck, but she was able to email it to me. Looks great and we get to do some advance stitching stuff. We get to do some backstitching in a few different colors. We also get to satin stitch. I have absolutely no idea what that means, but in the email, she suggested doing the crossstitch first, then satin stitching over the top of that. So we've got time to learn and figure this out and all. Thursday, we went through our existing threads and found most of the colors I needed. Stopped by Michael's Thursday night and was able to get the rest that I needed. Except for one color. Naturally. Now, I certainly can hop on 123stitch.com and order the color, but seems silly to pay $3, 4 for them to ship me a $0.75 hunk of thread. I've looked at the pattern and we've got some good news on that front. First off, the color is used for 4 stitches. That's it. It's a red, so worst case scenario, we can find another similar red color. Like to honor BMH's wishes, though, so that's last resort. But the other good news is the color is used in one little spot (makes sense, only being 4 stitches and all), near the top and right corner. So if we start in the lower left corner, we can get several tens of hours into stitching before we reach the point where we need this color. So we can get started on this, and once a week or so, swing by Michael's and see if they have the color in stock yet (it is one they carry, they were just out). Few days ago, I transferred to a new store and pass by another Michael's to get to my work. So I could leave early one day and swing by there to see if they might have it. So while I do like to have everything ready to go before I start a project, I'm okay with jumping into this one missing this one color. Being a nice big Zelda pic, this will definitely take us longer to finish than our Lolo ones, but that's okay. Not even going to harbor a guess at the final time, but this will definitely keep us busy the rest of this year. But, we have our 2027 GDQ prizes stitched, so we don't need to worry about those/taking a break until Fall next year or so when we'll work on 2028 prizes. So lots of time to just plug away at our final Zelda project (at least, until I acquire and beat another game in the series, which isn't likely at this point).

[Firehawke]

So glad that BMH was able to email it to you! Good luck finding that 1 color...glad that you are able to start in the opposite corner! I haven't tried the satin stitch myself, but have seen some of my embroidery friends' finished stitches...there should be some great tutorial vids on YT. Happy stitching!

[skater43]

Yeah, glad BMH was able to finish this and get it to me. Wasn't able to start Sunday, but we got things rolling Monday, so we're a couple of hours in now. Long way to go, obviously, but every great project begins with a single stitch and all that. Haven't had a chance to look for the color yet, but had a bit of a setback in my transportation availability this week (clobbered a deer driving home from work Sunday night. I'm fine, no bruises or any injuries of any kind. Car was still driveable, but the front end got pretty jacked up. Left it at a repair shop yesterday and they expect to have it done by Friday, which is pretty awesome/quick considering the damage done), so haven't had a chance to go looking/shopping. But we've got time, so I'm not too worried. Looked up a couple of things just to see exactly what satin stitch is, but haven't really gotten into the nitty gritty on how to do it. But since that's basically a finishing type move, we've got time to look into the details and maybe do some practicing on a piece of scrap fabric or something.

[Firehawke]

Oooof....glad to hear that you are okay!!!!! And glad that you were able to start the project! Practicing on some scrap fabric sounds like a great idea!

[skater43]

Yeah, lot to be thankful for: I was okay, car was still driveable, I was able to get it fixed quickly (dropped it off Tuesday about 1, picked it up Friday about noon), could afford to get it fixed, etc.

Phantom Hourglass is underway. 26th I plan to send out the first WIP pic, so watch for that. While chasing around today, I did swing by Michael's again and unfortunately, they still didn't have the color I'm missing. But we've got time. And as I said, I drive by a different Michael's on my way to work, so could stop by on my way to work one day. I'll also be done that way for a dentist appointment in a couple of weeks, so can try then, too.

[skater43]

Progress is being made. 20 hours in now, through yesterday, so long way to go, but every great project begins with a single stitch and all that. As you can prolly see, though, we've already moved the hoop once. This is primarily due to where we started and put the hoop and the fact that most of that hoop didn't need to be stitched. But, it's something. Not much to really look at yet, but you can see the water under the boat and at least part of the front of the boat coming up. Pen is there for scale, but just to give some idea of how things are shaping up, where I left off yesterday/will resume today, that's right about halfway up the picture vertically. This is longer than it is tall, so we've got quite a bit to the right to go still, but we're
looking at roughly 3 1/2 hoops to cover everything top to bottom. Almost all of this hoop will be stitched, so it'll take a few weeks to fill, so end of June? we'll reach the top of the picture and start making our way right, but it's hard to judge this far out. In a lot of ways, this reminds me of our picture for Wind Waker, which seems appropriate since this is a sequel to that game/in that timeline. Both featuring a boat is the obvious connection, but also the fact that it isn't all filled in/there's a lot of unstitched background (as opposed to Spirit Tracks or Twilight Princess in which everything was
stitched). And as such, I need to be careful to check the edges for few stitches of an odd color or something. As I say, each project is different and requires a little different approach. I've looked up satin stitching, so understand the principle, but haven't actually tried it yet, and not sure exactly how it'll work in this picture, but we've got lots of time yet to figure that out. And I am still missing that one color. Stopped by Michael's nearby last week and again yesterday and they are still out of that color. Have an appointment tomorrow near another one, so I'll stop by the there, just to see. Still several weeks out from needing this color, so I'm not fretting yet, but would be nice to get it sooner rather than later, just to know I had it/didn't have to worry about it when the time came. Meantime, we've still got lots to work on, filling out the front of our boat.

[Firehawke]

Loving the details that you are already stitching!

[skater43]

Thank you. Long way to go, but things are coming along nicely. This week, we've mostly been working on the left side of the boat, so next WIP pic, that'll be done and things should look more boatish. Also seeing it'll only be 2 1/2 hoops per column, as I can stitch all but the top 30 or so rows currently. Which means we'll be moving right sooner than I thought, though it'll still take a few weeks to stitch each hoop. We should actually get to part of Link this hoop, too, so few weeks from now, that'll be something to look for.

And I was able to get the color I was missing on Monday, so that's taken care of and we now have all the materials we need to finish this. Still the technique of satin stitching and how that'll actually fit into the project, but we've got quite a bit of time still to figure that out.