I've been stitching off and on for the past couple of months, not as much as usual. We've had a lot of very humid and rainy weather here in Southern Ontario which has my rheumatoid arthritis in overdrive. I don't have it very badly compared to some, I'm still in the very early stages of it, but it's more a case of where I have it - in my left hand and my left shoulder - that causes grief while stitching. Some days, like today, I have a mild ache but the pain is bearable. Days like yesterday, my hand is swollen, red and almost impossible to move without extreme discomfort. Thank goodness for naproxen or I'd never get anything done!!
But it has been a while since I've posted any updates, so here's what I am and have been working on!! lol
First up, a new release, Shades of Green. This one is stitched in Fiberlicious hand dyed silks on 40ct Pablano linen from Sassy's Fabbys. Currently, Sassy's is on hiatus for a while, so I'm recommending Picture This Plus Chrysalis as an alternative colour, it's almost spot on and will look lovely.
It's the seventh in the Shades series. There are still five more to come, 4 of them are with model stitchers and will be coming soon, and one is here all kitted and ready to stitch when I get around to it (I have a couple others coming up in the rotation before I get to it).
I've also been working on Not Quite Whitework. I'm a little bit ahead of the class at this point, I'm finished up to Part 5 which comes out in August and will be picking it back up to work on it some more soon. :) Here is where I left off:
It's been a fun one so far! With so many different stitches, it's hard to get bored with it. I'm using the Dinky Dyes spring colours and it's stitching up beautifully. :)
I did sneak in another piece in between models as well, a wedding gift for my brother who got married in May. This is Promessa, by Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks. I stitched it all in Delica Beads and Swarovski crystals (with a little bit of silk and metallics for accents), on Stephanie's 36ct Midnight Tryst. It came out even better than I had imagined it in my plotting and scheming!!
And finally a new design I'm working on model stitching, called Positive and Negative. I just started this one last week, so not much to show off yet, but here is the floss toss and the first WIP picture after about 30 hours of stitching.
I'm using Silk Mill silks for this one and the colours are just gorgeous. The fabric is from a new-to-me dyer called Garibaldi's Needleworks. They're wonderful if you haven't tried them, the offer lovely single colour marbled fabrics in a wide array of colours and even do fabric swatches so you can floss toss before deciding on a colour. This colour is called Antiqued, it's a lovely neutral with a peachy undertone.
Since I haven't been able to stitch as much as I'd like, I've been doing a lot of charting as well, so there will be lots more new designs for years to come. :)
