Frustration and another new start

So I started working on QS Mystic Garden for the HAED BB SAL. I'm parking, which I've really enjoyed when working on DQ, but it isn't working for me on this piece. There's almost too much confetti! And with no other pages around it, there isn't anything to anchor your threads on, so it's all just a big ugly mess! Three days and I've not even stitched 100 stitches on it. Bleh. I'm taking a break from it for a bit, but I might have to try cross country on it for a while and see how that goes. Need to get a different coloured washable pen though. Blue on blue isn't too useful.

To calm me down and make stitching fun again, I started another new (and very easy) project.

Look familiar? I'm stitching Metamorphosis by Ink Circles again. This time it's being stitched 1 over 1 on 28 ct white lugana using DMC threads. Instead of the more primitive/Quakery colours of the original, this one is being done in blue ombre. It is so little and cute! The solid coloured thread makes this design a breeze to stitch. Can't believe I got almost the entire first motif done, and I only stitched for a couple hours today. Smoking needles, indeed!

TUSAL Time, Parking Progress, and More Charts

It's TUSAL time again! My mason jar of orts is getting incredibly full. I keep having to squish them down to make room.

This month there is a bunch of blue silk in there from ripping out the lettering from my NATO Subversive Sampler (which I replace with purple silk). On top of that are a ton of reds from Drama Queen.

Speaking of Drama Queen, I finally have a page finish!!

This was by far the most stress-free and enjoyable page I have done on this project so far. Parking is definitely the answer for me when it comes to complex, confetti-heavy projects. Now I just have to decide if I work on page 7 (the one below the page I just finished, which is more poppies and confetti) or page 4 to finish the top row (which is mostly blocky background). I'm leaning towards page 4, because I might just get another page finish in before the end of December this way.

Shamefully, I must admit to purchasing a few more HAED charts during the 50% off sale. I don't know what I was thinking, or when I'll ever get around to stitching all of these charts. Oh my goodness my stashpile is huge!! Here's what I just couldn't live without ...

China Lake (Gordon Fitchett)

Ice Palace (Ciro Marchetti)

Magikal Moment in Time (Ciro Marchetti)

I resisted buying Marchetti charts for so long, but I caved -- now I'm in trouble!

Gone Parking

I don't know why, but after I put down Drama Queen last time, I got all weirded out and intimidated by parking. I couldn't make myself pick it up again. (I'm goofy, I know.) Anywho, after far too long a break (more than a month), I got back into parking and DQ is now zooming along! (Well, relatively speaking that is ... hehe.)

I have now completed 1/3 (or 33.23%) of the pattern. This translates into 25,674 stitches so far.

I like the above photo because it does a decent job of showing the true colours of this piece. Parking is chaotic but effective.

I like close-ups! Showing off some of the confetti intensity and the crazy parking!

Progress and Chaos

PROGRESS!!! Parking is working really well for me on Drama Queen. I can't seem to put this piece down, and I truly haven't been this excited about this project since I started it 16 months ago.

A few columns done (well, the blue part at least). Figured I would finish the top blue bits before starting on the red section.

Deceptive confetti-heavy bits.

And the chaos ... tons of colours and shading along the edges of the poppies, which means a chaotic mess of threads and needles. Thank goodness it isn't as difficult to stitch while parking as it looks.

I popped by my LNS today (I just HAPPENED to be in the area) and bought a few silken goodies for my giveaway. You can still enter on this post until Sept 22nd.

Somehow I managed to buy almost as many goodies for me while I was at it. LOL. What can I say? I love my HDF silks and I hate the thought that they are being discontinued. Gotta stock up while I can. :) The three on the left are for me, but the 4 lovelies on the right are for the giveaway.

Parking

I finally tried parking.

It is VERY different compared to how I usually stitch (cross country). It really took some getting used to and completely changed everything about how I stitch. I found that it slowed my stitching speed considerably, but my productivity went up.

How you ask? Well, while I am physically slower at stitching (I don't just mindlessly do big patches of stitching in the same colour), I find I don't spend as much time searching for symbols, marking up my chart, figuring out stitching pathways, or flipping over my work and starting/ending threads. I can't watch TV while stitching like this; it takes far too much concentration. Instead, I listen to music and I get a TON done.

Let's take a look at my first try at parking:

This is 178 stitches into the page. I'm actually stitching almost a column and a half wide here (14 stitches) and it's a little cumbersome. However, it's background, so thankfully I'm only negotiating 4-6 colours at any one time. I even tucked a few strands away for the next column.

I had the bright idea of starting the next column of 10 stitches because they are in the same colours as the first column. After a 10x10 block, I realized that I was starting to get confused/stressed trying to stitch across 2.5 columns, so I stopped and tucked those strands away and went back to the original column.

I'm about 471 stitches into the page here, and I am loving how my stitching looks. My stitches are even and pretty, and I didn't struggle trying to fit any of them in. Not only that, but I LOVE seeing no holes! I can understand how people can get addicted to stitching really complicated pieces this way because the picture literally develops in front of you. It's very cool to see.

I went back to the original column (which I stopped working on mainly because the number of symbols in the block tripled) and started adding more colours.

I've added 7 new threads into the mix, though several of the original colours have now ended. It's a little tougher negotiating (and keeping untangled) so many more threads, but I'm still able to make progress. It's strikes me as odd that I don't stitch at the same pace I did before (especially in blocky areas like this one) and yet I have gotten SO much more done today. I'm about 499 stitches in here -- almost 10% of the page!!

I need to make a trip to my LNS soon and buy a few more packs of needles. Not having to rethread all the time certainly helps my sanity, though the more threads I introduce, the harder it is to keep everything neat and untangled. I still need to finish adjusting to this new way of stitching, but I certainly see why some people swear by it.