A-Z of WIPs Challenge 2024 - C and D

Good afternoon!

The A-Z of WIPs Challenge 2024 is a little SAL being attempted by Serendipitous Jo and myself to stitch our way through our alphabet of WIPs at two/three per month, starting with A and B in January and finishing with Y and Z in December. 

Last month you saw A and B so this month it's C and D.

C is for... the Happiness Delivery Couple (and the Christmas Tree) by Soda Stitch

Started June 2020 - last worked on April 2023.

I thought I'd continue working my way down this one so concentrated on mainly the hair and skin. I don't like the boy's big mouth so will be adapting it into a grin similar to that of the girl. This WIP will probably reappear for Christmas In July.

Stitching time to date - 8 hours 25 minutes

D is for... Dragon Shelf by CrossStitchAlexaKiss (no longer on etsy) stitched on Fairy Dust Multi Pastel aida

Started July 2021 - last worked on July 2021.

After having not stitched on this one since the day I started it, this soon became a WIP I didn't want to put down, hence the amount of progress. Another couple of years of this SAL, and little Horace here could become a finish!

Stitching time to date - 6 hours 40 minutes

As with last month, I'm again really pleased with the progress I was able to make on these. This Challenge is working well so far.

Next month E and F, involving some sorcery and a trip to Continental Europe!

Take care,

Rachel x

Tokyo Olympic New Start #17 - Witch's Hat Shelf

Hi all!

So here it is already, the final new start of my 17 day Tokyo Olympic Stitching Challenge. It's gone quickly, but I suppose that's what happens when you're a bit of an Olympic addict. I think I watched a bit of just about every sport and loved the closing ceremony which, like the opening one, was reflective of the current situation. Goodbye Tokyo, and thank you!

And now I also need to say a big thank you to Tiff for joining me on this challenge. I haven't mentioned her at all, and that's been really bad of me. Please visit her blog and admire all of her new starts. She's also written interesting information about a different sport each day, and they're definitely worth a read.

So here's my final new start:

Witch's Hat Shelf by CrossStitchAlexaKiss

Stitched on 16ct Wolf over-dyed aida

Stitch count 51 wide by 55 high

Started - 8th August 2021

Stitching time to date - 1 hour 30 minutes

Not a bad start for one night.

Fun Olympic Fact

GB does not financially reward its athletes for collecting a medal at the Olympics, but a lot of countries do. Here's a random selection of how much an athlete can expect if they return home from the Olympics with a gold medal. All are in US$: Singapore $737,000, Indonesia $346,000, Italy $213,000, Spain $111,000, Japan $45,000, USA $37,500, Canada $16,000. France currently offers $76,000 but I wouldn't be surprised if that dramatically increases for their home games!

So now this new start binge is over and my life's gradually beginning to return to 'normal' I've got a lot of catching up to do... I'm four months behind with both A Monarch A Month and The Loneliness Of Autumn, and even further behind with blog reading and emails, so those must all take precedence.

But to show I'm still a little bit totally crazy, Tiff and I are already in discussion about what to do from 4th to 20th February during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics... and then it's only 1082 days until Paris 2024... perhaps another 17 new starts for each???!!! Or not!

Take care,

Rachel x

Tokyo Olympics New Start #3 - Dragon Shelf

Hello all!

Day number three of the Olympic Stitching Challenge and my schedule included watching mainly gymnastics and swimming, although I did enjoy dipping into various other sports such as road cycling, rowing and taekwondo.

As for stitching, it was this lovely Dragon Shelf. This is one of many shelf designs which I came across by accident and fell in love with straight away. Needless to say, this is not the only one I own!

Dragon Shelf by CrossStitchAlexaKiss (etsy

Stitched on 16ct Fairy Dust Multi over-dyed aida

Stitch count 54 wide by 46 high

Started - 25th July 2021

Stitching time to date - 2 hours 15 minutes

Thought I'd work fairly logically on this one and chop and change colours as I went. Shame I didn't manage to get both books finished but that's OK.

Fun Olympic Fact

46 year-old gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has just competed in her eighth olympics! To put that in perspective, not only was she winning medals on the world stage before most of her fellow competitors had been born, but she's almost double the age that most gymnasts retire! That's sure some commitment to her sport!

As a vaulting specialist she was aiming to finish in the top eight in order to make the vault final, but she finished 14th, which was still an amazing achievement, but obviously not enough. As she left the arena in tears she was given a standing ovation by both competitors and judges. I think she deserved it!

Take care,

Rachel x