I got some cross stitching in!

I got to cross stitch a little bit this past week, after a long hiatus from it. It was great!
In the week leading up to my vacation, I got to do a little bit of stitching on my Mouse Embroider project.
I did enough to be able to update my progress bar a little bit, but not enough to really be able to tell.
I have a feeling that until I do the backstitching on this one, it will always look like a big tan blob.

Here is where I left off last:

Here is where I am now:

(Eww, horrible picture)

Smidge of progress and study study study!

I only have about one day's worth of progress on the mousie. I almost decided not to post it, but then I wouldn't have much to talk about in this week's post, so here it is.

Last week I was here:

Now I'm here:

The progress is only noticeable if you really look, and I'll tell you why.
I'm finally getting off of my behind to finish up the certification that I started for work back in January! I took the week long class back in January, and the first test in April. I haven't been doing much on it lately, but I have to kick things in gear. I need to get this one finished ASAP so I can finish another one that I had started before that class in January, since the test expires in September and I don't want to have to start studying for an all new test. That would be like starting over!

To make a long story short (too late, I know), I will be studying hard for this test I have scheduled for next week. I'll then take a few days off, then start studying again for the next test. Once I have this first test out of the way, I hope to be able to take one day a week away from the books and just stitch (or craft other things). I won't have much progress to show everyone, but I'll try to at least have something every week.

Hello Mousie

I picked up my mousie again!
It had been so long since I last worked on the mousie, that I had no idea what color I had been using and had no idea where I had left off. Because of this, I just started filling in the top until I discovered the color that I had been working on. Once I figured that out, I started working the opposite direction that I had been working until I met up with where I had left off. So, I have yet another color done!
I went ahead and counted (and way overestimated) the number of stitches in this project, since I didn't know where I had left off. I may change my stitch counter on the left back to the number of colors, though, since I am back on track with the plan of all of each color at a time.

Here is where I was last, when I had set aside the mousie:

And here is where I am after this week of progress:

Belated thanks!

I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to everyone. I started to lose my enthusiasm for the mousie due to the monotony of color so far. All of your encouraging comments helped keep me on track and renewed my interest in this piece. So, thanks everybody!

Now, I know that it has been a while since my last post. This is for 2 reasons. First, I did mention earlier that I have been studying for a test lately, which has taken away from my stitching time. I still have not yet taken that test. I had to push it back a bit due to reason 2.

I got the icky crud that has been going around. I was soo sick for a few days. I actually called in sick to work. I didn't even have the energy to stitch on my time off. I had taken Kyoto into the bedroom with me in case I ever felt up to it, but I never did. I just relaxed and watched Netflix all day. Since I lost all that study time, too, I pushed back my test to next Monday.

However, yesterday, I did decide to let my brain rest and I got some stitching in! It's just more of the same color so far, but here is where we are on the mousie.

OH! I almost forgot! I have gotten my beautiful fabric for my Sleepy Hollow project. It is amazing, and I cannot wait to start working on it! There have been several times I was tempted to put aside the mousie and start on Sleepy Hollow right away! I'm sure eventually my excitement will win out, but I will keep with my mouse as long as possible.
I will post a picture of the fabric later, it is certainly drool-worthy!

January IHSW

I had a great plan for the weekend. I would get in 3 hours of study and up to 5 hours of stitching done each day. Unfortunately, as always happens, life came around and this didn't happen. I did get some studying done, but I didn't get as much stitchy time as I would have liked. I'm not really upset about it, though, since I did get to study.

This is where I am now.

Still just a bunch of off-white. Nothing much to see. I'm starting to lose my enthusiasm for this piece due to the monotony and how close the colors are. I may decide to set this one aside for a while and use my randomizer to choose another project to work on/start.

Not much stitching done this week, but a good amount of progress!

I have been studying up for another certification for the day job. I have finally set a date to take the exam (Jan 30th), so the past week I have been cramming. I don't expect to have a lot of stitching time, but I will definitely fit some in here and there to let my mind rest every once in a while.

So, here we are on my mousie project. I have been working on it, but I haven't posted anything lately. Here he is after another 13-ish hours of work:

The darkness of the picture makes the fabric look off-white, but it really is white! Of course, you can't tell what the picture is, yet, anyway. I have a feeling that with this one, you won't be able to tell what it is even when it is completed until all the backstitching is added (there is a lot).
I found a way to sortof keep track of my progress on this one. There are 11 colors and 16 symbols (some use 2 colors) in this project. Since I am stitching all of one color at once, I can keep track of how many symbols I have completed.
So far, as of this picture, I have completed 2 symbols completely. I know, it's hard to tell, isn't it? I also have started a third color (not counting that little spatter of the darker brown in the middle, of course). These colors are so similar, that even stitched next to each other, I can't tell them apart. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but I am starting to get tired of this color(s).

I have been keeping track of what projects I work on which day, and the time that I am spending on it. So far, I haven't had any issues with keeping everything logged. My biggest issue is remembering to turn the timer on and off. I went to the dollar store and bought a pocket calendar to keep track of it all. I made the mistake of going right after Christmas, so their selection was practically non-existant, but this is my calendar!

I'm happy that it is a 2 year calendar, so I don't even have to worry about getting another one next year. Hooray!

Happy Monday!

I have a confession to make. I was so excited to start one of the projects on my list (the mouse), that I started right away on it, and totally forgot about my Saturday SAL project. The past 3 days I managed to get in close to 11 hours of time on my little mousie. That estimate includes the time I spent gridding, too.

Some story on this, I only marked the center with my marker and started right away with stitching. I only got a few stitches in when I realized that I really will need the fabric gridded, rather than winging it. My very first horizontal line was, of course, one count off. Rather than try to fix it, I just drew in the correct line and will disregard the extra one. That explains the extra line on the fabric. I also didn't want to get too close with the marker to the few stitches that I had already done, which is why there are a couple tiny areas with no marker. It's barely noticeable, though.

Here he is so far:

I know, not much to look at right now. I also have no idea why I decided to complete one color in entirety first, but it just seemed like the thing to do. Because of the way I did this, though, I won't be able to keep track of my progress, stitch- and percentage-wise.
Also, the whole thing is actually a rectangle, but the outer corners were charted as white on white. To save my sanity and hours of unneeded stitching, I am skipping the outer white parts and only doing the oval.