#AprilCrossStitch is complete!
I finished the last of the backstitch this evening and trimmed the ends so it is fairly neat in back. I soaked it in Soak to clean it of as much of the oils from my hands as possible. Hopefully it will dry overnight and I can frame it tomorrow.
Such a pretty #crossstitch piece! It is also really fun with the different weights and half-stitches to keep it interesting as the design emerged.
Next year, I will work on the cherry blossom pattern, for a triptych!
There is something magical when the finished design emerges upon the application of the back stitching to a #crossstitch piece. I love this part of the process and I want to not stop stitching until it's completed. It looks *so cool*!
*Insert Frankenstein cackle here*
100% #crossstitch complete on the #AprilCrossStitch!
I get to spend the next evening doing all the backstitching. There's a lot, but it is so satisfying to see the 100% in Pattern Keeper and know I am on the last lap of this project.
The frame is ready and waiting for it, too! I am excite!
I am also posting an image of the back. There are still some stray threads I need to snip, but I think I did a fairly good job keeping the back tidy. With the backstitching, it will not be as nice. 😅
I'm so close to being done with #AprilCrossStitch! I hope to be done tonight, but I have other tasks I want to do so maybe not. 😅 Plus, there's all the backstitching. So maybe done and framed by Tuesday? 🤞
TFW you realize that you misread the pattern on the #AprilCrossStitch and it isn't half stitch with one strand, it is a full stitch one strand. I have to go back and do the other leg for each stitch. Thankfully, it isn't too bad and is going quickly, since I don't have to refer to the pattern. 🤪
Sometimes, I think: just a few more stitches and I can be done! So even though I am really tired and should wrap this up for the evening, with around 30 stitches, I can be done with two colours from the pattern! I can do it!
Friends, I could not do it.
The following evening, I realized that I stitched these 32 stitches off by one row and I needed to frog them. 🤦 Bah. Humbug. Thankfully, it was only 32 stitches.
I am 2700 stitches/45.98% done.
I've been making good time on my #AprilCrossStitch!
By Wednesday evening, I was at 16.77%.
Thursday and Friday, I worked on another project, but I buckled down on Saturday to try to get a chunk done of the project. By Saturday evening, I was at 32.61%. I ended this evening with 42.44%.
It is so satisfying to see each colour complete in Pattern Keeper. I can't imagine following a cross-stitch pattern these days without it because it is so helpful with all of its features.
Last night's progress on #AprilCrossStitch.
I settled down to play assorted YT videos and make a dent in my cross-stitch project. I managed to get to 800 stitches total complete (mostly, some are still half stitches), 13.62%. I was eyeing frames for the project. Last year, the project was 149w x 80h. This year's project is 147w x 81h. I opted for a square frame last year and I loved the look of it. Should I try to do the same this year? 🤔
I think I will.
Aside:
This #AprilCrossStitch project is a gift.
Last year, I also stitched a #crossstitch gift.
For the same recipient as this year's gift.
By the same pattern designer.
I had forgotten that I also tried to stitch cross-stitch on linen last year and *hated* it.
I spotted this IG story I wrote last year on my previous gift project. 😅 I guess I am consistent? 🤪
My shipment of Aida, to replace the linen in this project, has arrived. Some of the fabric I purchased was "hand dyed effect" fabric, which isn't actually hand dyed. Because the wrong sides are pure white, it gives me a disconcerting feeling. I am unsure when I will use it, but it is nice to have in my stash. I opted for "A Touch of Gray" cloth (solid colour) and started last night. I made 5.86% progress!
I am hoping to finish this #crossstitch by early April, for a gift.
Ai 아이