Parrot On Parade - finished!

Hi all!

Yes, I'm so excited and you did read that correctly, Mr Scruffy is finished! He was determined there was no way he was going to be taken off my frames so I had to face the oh so dreadful task of having to continue him until he was completed! Talk about suffering for your art!!

Here's where I left him at the 40 hour mark:

And now all finished:

Parrot On Parade by Bothy Threads

Stitched on 16ct Sand Dune over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 113 wide by 137 high

Started - 13th January 2019

Finished - 10th April 2019

Total stitching time - 51 hours 10 minutes

The remainder of the stitching took just under ten hours, so with only the backstitching remaining I plodded on, deciding it wasn't really worth posting about him at 50 hours when there was so little left to do.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise when I tell you I genuinely loved every stitch that went into him, so much so that I would definitely stitch him all over again! He's just so full of character and the colours were absolutely gorgeous to work with.

I mentioned when I started this project that I don't normally use the threads provided in kits. However, since Bothy threads don't use DMC, and colour matching their threads did not yield particularly accurate results, I did in this case.

I was impressed with the threads in general but, more than that, I was very impressed with the amount provided. I may have used 16ct instead of the 14ct aida they supplied but, even so, look at how much is left!

And for the statisticians among us, here's a fun visual representation of the percentage of each thread actually used:

I think the graph speaks for itself, showing that I used less 50% or less of 14/17 threads. Swap over to 18ct and there would be more than enough to stitch him a second time with the remainder. Very generous indeed!

From my online framing store I've already found a frame which suits him perfectly but am not going to order it quite yet - the store offers free postage when a certain amount is spent and although I have three frames in my basket I haven't quite reached that limit. Once Hogwarts is finished, though, I will have enough so I can guarantee there will be a framing spree towards the end of the year.

So, for now, Mr Scruffy goes into my Box Of Shame and my attention will turn back to Hogwarts In A Bottle. I hardly stitched on it at all last month so it's definitely time to make amends! Agreed?

Take care,
Rachel x

PS I'm a bit behind with reading blogs and replying to comments; bear with me, I haven't forgotten you!

Parrot On Parade - 40 hours

Hello all!

Mr Scruffy stayed on my frames and received the attention he was demanding.

So he's now gone from this:

To this:

If you think he's stitching up quickly, that's because he is! There are only really four colours in his chest feathers so big portions can be stitched without swapping threads too often or concentrating too hard. That's my kind of chart!!

He's had a little more work since this photo, but will now go away for a few days whilst I stitch on my three beginning-of-the-month projects. Once those have been completed I'm certain he will come straight back again - and I have an inkling that the next time you see him it will be for more than just a progress report ;)

Take care,
Rachel x

Parrot On Parade - 30 hours

Hello again!

Another stint, another update. Mr Scruffy is at about the halfway mark now and I'm well into stitching his ruffled chest feathers.

You saw him like this a few days ago:

And now he's grown to this:

It's quite rare for me to stick with a project for more than one or two 10 hour sessions but Mr Scruffy is refusing to be taken off the frames. He's obviously enjoying the attention far too much and seems determined to hog the limelight for the remainder of the month. And, you know what? I might just let him!

Take care,
Rachel x

Parrot On Parade - 20 hours

Hello all!

I suddenly decided I fancied stitching reds for a while so the gorgeous and very charismatic Parrot On Parade returned to my frame.

Here's how I left him:

And now:

Where appropriate I do like to name characters in my projects, so seeing as he's a bit of a scruffy chap he's now been named Mr Scruffy - not very original, I admit, but definitely fitting.

Now for some useless information... yesterday marked my 1000th stitching day in a row - or every day since 25th June 2016. In fact I've only missed one day since 1st January 2015 (that being 24th June 2016, obviously!) which was due to being in A&E with my son who had fractured his wrist.

We arrived in A&E about 7:30pm, I think, and naturally I was concerned about him, but as the minutes and hours ticked away I couldn't help but selfishly think that my stitching record (which then stood at 540 days) would be broken. And it was, as we didn't get home until the early hours of the following morning. At one point I felt like phoning hubby and asking him to bring my stitching to A&E; son was asleep beside me, more urgent cases were naturally taking precedence and I knew we were in for a long night, but that would have been more hassle than it was worth! So I *pitiful sigh with back of hand on forehead* sacrificed my record and knew I would be starting back at zero the following day. Oh, the things we do for our children!!!

Yes, of course I'm hamming my reaction up - my children will always come first - but what niggles is that if the school nurse had actually done her job properly (he hurt his wrist at lunchtime) and/or I had taken more notice of his complaining (I'm not a harsh mother but, I think you'll agree, some children have a low pain threshold and tend to over-react at the slightest thing) we would have been in A&E and home a lot sooner.

But all that aside, I count myself exceptonally lucky that I am able to stitch every night and am now aiming for 2000 days which, if my calculations are correct, will be 15th December 2021!

And to start the ball rolling on those next 1000 days I've decided to stay with Mr Scruffy for another 10 hours. Back soon!

Take care,
Rachel x

New Start - Parrot On Parade - 10 hours

Hello one and all!

I couldn't help another new start and will dive straight in with the 10 hour progress picture:

Parrot On Parade by Bothy Threads

Stitched on 16ct Sand Dune over-dyed aida by Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Started 13th January 2019

I'm absolutely loving the reds and corals in this one, which is just as well considering they make up the majority of the project! Eventually he will look like this:

The fabric supplied in the kit is 14ct speckled white, shown above, but because I don't do 14ct I swapped it for Sand Dune. I could have chosen any variety of pinks, blues or neutrals, but thought this neutral one looked the best. I don't think I made a mistake.

Now to decide whether to stick with this one, go back to Hogwarts or start another new project. And I've decided to...

... make you wait to find out!

Take care,
Rachel x