Tokyo Paralympics New Start #2 - Dragon no. 2

Hi all!

Day 2 of the Paralympic Stitching Challenge and another random dragon started. I ought to feel guilty about starting these, but they all should be fairly quick and easy to finish... when the time comes!

Check out Tiff's blog too. She's stitching the same dragons but in different colours and in a different order. 

Dragon no. 2 by StitchItPicasso (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Puddle overdyed aida

Stitched with ThreadworX 10551 Indian Turquoise

Started - 25th August 2021

Stitching time to date - 2 hours 35 minutes

A nice and subtle combination of fabric and threads today, although I do think the bit I chose to stitch looks like a Dalek holding some bunting!

Top Paralympic Moment

Obviously the swimming and cycling were phenomenal, but the wheelchair rugby stands out as being absolutely brutal! I love how the team incorporates a range of disabilities, with each disability given a points tariff and a maximum points tariff allowed at any one time. That makes their teamwork even more impressive.

See you tomorrow with start number 3.

Take care,

Rachel x

Tokyo Paralympics New Start #1 - Dragon no. 9

Hi all!

No, you didn't misread the title of this post, but if I blamed Tiff, would you believe me?

If I said Tiff flew over The Pond, knocked on my door, twisted my arm and forced me into starting another bunch of projects to coincide with the Tokyo Paralympics, would you believe me?

Thought not!

Actually, neither of us took much convincing, so your thinking that Tiff and I are completely insane is perfectly justified! But what the heck, The Olympics is only once every four years, and it's our way of cheering along the competitors.

For this bunch of new starts we've both chosen to use variegated threads to stitch the same 'quick and easy' projects. The only difference is, Tiff will be using more colourful threads than me. It'll be interesting to compare and contrast them as we go.

So here's start number one:

Dragon no. 9 by StitchItPicasso (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Rhododendron overdyed aida

Stitched with ThreadworX 1089 Bleeding Hearts

Started - 24th August 2021

Stitching time to date - 3 hours

The red is a little bit darker than I hoped, but this makes the dragon a bit more intimidating, I think.

Top Paralympic Moment (instead of Fun Olympic Fact)

The Paralympic opening ceremony was just as enjoyable and subdued as the one for the Olympics, but I especially loved how the national flags were projected onto the ground during the athletes' entrance, and their names were scrolled around the stadium. That was a nice touch and I'd love to see it at future events.

See you tomorrow!

Take care,

Rachel x

The Loneliness Of Autumn - 170 hours

Hello everyone!

First on my list of 'catching up with stitching missed in the last few months' is The Loneliness of Autumn, a design by Leonid Afremov which I am SALing with Leonore.

Leonore has been continuing as planned, but my last update for this was at the end of April. I should be able to catch up by the end of the year, and got off to a good start this week by reaching the 170 end-of-May mark.

The ten hours consisted wholly of 3371, dark brown. There weren't any decent blocks of this colour but it did help fill in gaps on the tree trunks and lampposts. I'm about 3/4 of the way down and, although the difference isn't strikingly obvious, you can just about make out some denser tree trunks and branches:

The next ten hours, which I'm hoping to also complete this month, will involve finishing 3371 and starting the next colour, the lovely medium tangerine 741. I'm certainly looking forward to adding another proper autumnal colour!

Take care,

Rachel x

Link-up For Fully Finished Gallery - August 2021

Hello all!

It's the 10th of the month so time for another Fully Finished Gallery SAL, the place to show your FFOing achievements since your last link-up.

The link-up for this SAL opens on the 10th of each month and stays open for 10 days so you can join in whenever you're ready.

I only have one again this month, last month's Smalls SAL piece, a Lizzie Kate Tiny Tiding, finished as per usual with co-ordinating fabric and barley twist cord. So much for trying to try something new but, in my defence, these are how my other Tiny Tidings are finished, so I had to do the same with this one, didn't I?!

Once I dig deeper into my Box Of Shame there will be other types of finishes - promise!

Now it's your turn.

Please link-up using the URL of your FFG SAL post and not the home page of your blog, adding a thumbnail of a finish and either your name or your blog name as the caption. The link-up will remain open for 10 days, closing at 6am UK time on 20th August.

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And please don't forget to follow other links and see what fellow fully-finishers have been up to; an encouraging comment can go a long way.

Next month's FFG SAL post will go live on 10th September at 6am UK time. Hope to see you there!

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 #16 - United States

Hello again!

So it was the penultimate day of the Olympics yesterday and the sporting action continued with more cycling, diving and a few other bits and pieces on my screen.

My new start hopped me from the United Kingdom to the United States:

United States from A Journey Around The World by Soda Stitch

Stitched on 18ct Around The World over-dyed aida

Stitch count 78 wide by 72 high

Started - 7th August 2021

Stitching time to date - 55 minutes

I was all prepared for a long night of stitching but, again, it was not to be so my new start was nowhere near as much as I had planned, if you can actually see the tiny bit of building and lights against the fabric!

Fun Olympic Fact

Lots of fuss has been made about young athletes at this Olympics - a 12 year old table tennis star, a 13 year old skateboard sensations and a 14 year old near-perfect diver, but what about the oldest Olympic competitors?

The oldest male competitor was 72 year old Oscar Swahn, who competed in shooting in 1920, and the oldest female competitor was 70 year old equestrian Laura Johnston in 1972. Considering the average age at Tokyo is 27, and most athletes retire in their 30s, I expect these records are unlikely to be broken!

Fun Olympic Fact update...

Back on day 11 I wrote that Oscar Swahn, along with his brother, were the most successful Summer Olympic family with 15 medals, including 6 golds, between them.

Following this Olympics, the Swahn's have now been joined by the husband and wife cycling duo of Jason and Laura Kenny, although with 12 golds out of 15 medals I would suggest they pip the Swhan's for top place on the leader board.

It's the final day of the Olympics today which means my final new start and Fun Olympic Fact post tomorrow :(

Take care,

Rachel x

People's Choice SAL - Books

Hello all!

It's the first Saturday of the month so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Continued thanks to Jo for hosting this unique SAL which has a different theme each month.

This month's theme is Books.

I love books but mainly children's books, which is handy for my job in Infant and Junior school libraries! My love of books seems to have (sort of) transferred to my love of stitching and I've often combined the two both with and without realising.

When I saw the theme of Books for this month I could have gone down the route of filling this post with numerous Harry Potter designs, but I've deliberately not included any as they have often appeared elsewhere.

Instead I am going to show designs containing books.

My only book finish is one of my favourite all time pieces; sometimes small and sweet is better:

Sleepy Book by Lili Of The Valley

And these are my top book-related WIPs:

Bookworm Fairy by Heaven And Earth Designs

(possibly never to be stitched on again, never say never)

Haunted Library by Mill Hill

(I really must return to this one but goodness knows when!)

Mouse Reading Book and Mouse With Pile Of Books

by CutePatternsByMaria

(I really must return to these too but, again, I have no idea when)

My stash includes a couple of charts by Heaven and Earth Designs which I am unlikely to ever stitch but I thought I'd show them anyway, because I still love the designs.

Story Keeper

So Many Books, So Little Time

(perhaps this is also a reflection of So Much Stash So Little Time!)

Two of my Tokyo Olympic New Starts also contain books. One was my second start and one will be my final start tomorrow. I won't show the first one again, but keep an eye out for the second one on Monday.

Next month's theme is Sewing.

Take care,

Rachel x